


「Another World」

by dwindy



Category: Gintama
Genre: AU, F/M, Fluff, Focus on GinHiji, Half Humans, Isekai, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:07:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28792923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dwindy/pseuds/dwindy
Summary: Summary: Kagura gets teleported into a world ruled by half animals, half humans. She gets mistaken for a human and is adopted by a chihuahua named Okita Sougo.Inspired by: A World Ruled By CatsRating: M for future scenes. No Smut.
Relationships: Hijikata Toshirou/Sakata Gintoki, Kagura/Okita Sougo
Comments: 15
Kudos: 33
Collections: Long Ass Stories





	1. isekai'd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really know what to say. 
> 
> But, hey :) 
> 
> I'm starting a new series and it might take 7 to 8 chapters to complete, it's a short story. I'm also not really good with Kagura's arus, but I'll sprinkle them throughout.

**One afternoon:**

"Give up, China." Sougo feigned a yawn of boredom. His confidence got the better of him and he didn't feel the need to take out his sword from his scabbard. Even though he had never won (nor lost) but he was living in a facade. Instead, he stood there with his back relaxed before he straightened himself with a crack or two. Too easy, he mused, as he gave her the same speech for the nth time. "It's useless, you'll never beat me. Just because you're standing high and mighty on the bridge doesn't mean you've won, or that you're better than me. You don't look scary at all. Just pathetic."

"Shut up, dumb chihuahua." She scowled and grinded her teeth as she pointed the end of her umbrella at his face. Ready to shoot at any time. "You give me all this big talk and yet you've never won against me, don't act like you've won yet. It hasn't been decided yet. I'll make sure I ruin that overly-rated handsome yet despicable face of yours, then peel that skin and grind it to powder and use it as an ingredient in my skincare routine!"

"Oh? So you admit that you're ugly." Kagura spat at this statement. Sougo noted the nervous grip on the umbrella and how it shook a little. Slowly, he grabbed the end of her umbrella and pushed it back. His body moved along. Step by step. A smirk tugged at his lips as he caught China off guard. Without a warning, he shoved the handle of her umbrella into her stomach and hurled her into the water. A clear splash satisfied his ears. "How about I tell you my skincare routine? Just don't wash your face with dirty, street water mixed with piss and you'll be fine."

He noticed how some water got onto his Shinsengumi uniform and attempted to rub it off, before he realised he didn't really wanna touch Kabukicho's dirty water mixed with piss. Well, not that he had ever cared before. It just so happened that in the moment, he remembered. Despite how blue and transpicuous the water was, it was not pure. Who knows what kind of drunk bastard bad stumbled across this bridge at night and threw up over the railings? Ah, maybe Danna did. 

Standing there patiently, he waited for China to get up and yell at and fight him. But she never did. Perhaps she drowned? Sougo reconsidered, no way. The water was too shallow for one to drown in it. And besides, this was not the first time she had fallen in there. Oh, perhaps she was lurking around and escaping out of his sight, so that she could come back, and attack him from behind? It is possible. 

His hand was placed onto the handle of his sword, ready to take it out any time. His ears cleared the background noise and focused on the nearby footsteps. He knew what China's footsteps sounded like. He had memorised it.

But she simply never came.

-

**A few minutes later:**

When she fell into the water, her mind was immediately filled with raging thoughts. This was not the first time he had pushed her into the water, and it will not be the first time that she would get up from the water and throw him in either. She held in her breath and waited till she hit the bottom. Kagura had fallen so many times that the rocks and pebbles and dirt icicles do not hurt her anymore. Rather, she became used to it.

She counted the seconds in her head. It was usually when she reached seven that she would stand up on her feet. But even after seven, eight, nine and so on, she did feel the ground. She moved her body, her eyes still closed but it would be fine so long as she had her increased yato senses, and thrusted her upper body forward. Her legs and feet pointed downwards, feeling for some kind of surface. Except, she fell deeper and deeper

And at some point, she had lost her senses. She couldn't hear anything from above and she couldn't hear the click-clacks and chatterings of the tiny water creatures. Was Sadist playing around with her? Was he forcing her in the same position to drown her mercilessly? He wouldn't go that far, would he? And besides, drowning wasn't as interesting as fire play. For a Sadist, he would have better torture methods. Reluctantly, she opened an eye. 

Even she was surprised that she could hold her breath for that long. Even though she was a yato, she was sure that rabbits couldn't swim. She looked around, but the walls surrounding the water wasn't there. And when she looked up, the bridge was gone. The sky was gone. Sadist was gone. Everywhere and everything had disappeared. To ensure she wasn't dreaming, she closed her eye shut and opened it again. Both eyes this time. Only to realise that it was not a dream.

It didn't help that she was now losing her breath and the water was reddening her eyes, cracks of blood slithering in like rivulets.

This is weird, she thought. 

The water is supposed to be shallow, 

when did it get this deep?

  
  
  


I'm gonna die.

-

**A day later:**

Waking up is the second hardest thing to do, a wise man once said. Maybe it was Gin-chan who said it, but her mind was too hazy to remember it. The first thing she did was wake up, the second thing she did was losing herself in a state of confusion. This was not her room or the hospital bed. Perhaps the Sadist felt so bad for pushing her into the river, that he ordered for Kagura to rest in a five star hotel? No, that can't be right. He would never do that, instead, he'd plan a second funeral.

"Oh, you woke up." Kagura looked up to the direction of the voice. Her eyes trailed to her right side, meeting Sadist's. His voice sounded way too casual for this situation, she almost drowned to death and he had the gall to be relaxed? He really was a Sadist. She watched him lean his back against the chair and sighed, his eyes wandering the room like a lost man. "You really did it this time."

She froze. Anger boiled the blood inside her veins. "W-what the hell are you talking about, y-you damn Sadist?!" She struggled to get the words out. "You're the one who threw me in the water."

"What are you talking about? I didn't throw you into the water, I found you. You should be grateful that someone saved you, a high status dog at that." Kagura didn't know what to say, but for a brief moment, she was happy that he finally acknowledged himself as a dog. Sadist continued. "Look, I know it's rough being a human. And since I pitied you so much, from now on, you're my pet… And it's not Sadist. It's Master."

"Huh?! Why should I call you that? Has your sadism gone through the roof, you damn Sadist?!" She aimed a few punches at his face. That damn face. She never got to ruin it. Yet he simply dodged every punch, like he always did, before he stopped her with a grip on her wrist.

"You dumb? Do you need to be sent back to the human mental asylum? I'm adopting you." Subsequently, he let go of her wrist. Leaning forward, he gathered a lock of her hair in his fingers. He stroked on it softly. His eyes in contact with hers the entire time. "How pretty…" His tone softened. "I've never seen a human so pretty. I assumed you had a Master you despised so much that you wanted to kill yourself, but I was shocked when I found out you were a stray. Nowhere did I ever find your records in any document."

Sadist was acting strange. He was acting like he didn't know her, she thought, was this a joke? What kind of role play was he playing at? This wasn't the time for BDSM, she almost died. And he would never speak like this to her. She may not know where she was or what had happened, but she knew that this was not the Sadist she knew. Kagura did not like him touching her freely, and if it was the real Sadist, she wouldn't have minded. So long as he wasn't stroking her hair so lovingly and disgustingly, but yanking on it. Like the way he always did because that was more normal. 

"D—Don't…" She slapped his hand away and shuffled backwards on the bed. The mattress and blankets were soft, but the touch was unfamiliar and she didn't like it. And for a supposedly domestic rabbit, who was used to cheap futons and the hardness of the wooden surface, it made her uncomfortable. "Don't touch me! And I'm not calling you Master." She waited for him to do something, but he just sat back down. Pondering on what to do next. She asked quietly, "who are you?"

A silence before he spoke. "Matsudaira Sougo. No, Okita Sougo—as I prefer. If you don't wanna call me Master, you can just call me Sougo. Sadist makes me sound like a predator, why would I ever wanna have sex with a human?" He ended his question with a look of disgust. Kagura only felt further confusion.

"No! You got it wrong! I'm not a human, I'm a yato!"

"The hell's a yato?"

Kagura didn't know what to say. She knew what a yato was, hell, she was one, but she wasn't sure if it'd be right to explain to him. He wouldn't understand. Not that she understood anything he said. Sadist. Predator. Humans. "Why wouldn't you wanna have sex with humans?" She blurted.

"Are you crazy?" He asked her. "Having sex with humans is like a lolicon forcing himself onto a little girl. It's immoral. It's wrong."

"But what's so wrong about humans?"

"Because they're supposed to be pets. If not then animals in the zoo, or strays like you. Humans are inferior species in comparison to dogs and cats. They're us, but without any distinct features. They don't have any strength or instincts, they either follow us from behind or die in natural selection." 

And that was when she noticed the chihuahua ears on his head, replacing the normal human ones like hers. Even though she wasn't human. Kagura noted a different scent on him, an unfamiliar one. It wasn't the scent of Shinsengumi's favourite deodorant, rather, he smelled like a dog mixed with Chanel. 

"S-Sougo." She spoke nervously.

His head perked up in response.

"I think I just got isekai'd into another world."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to write a different kind of series, something more explicit. But I couldn't think of an idea and I don't enjoy writing porn if there's no background to it. 
> 
> This is the only thing I could think of. Idk, maybe I'm a sucker for doggy Sougo. Enjoy the future mature scenes though.


	2. collared

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I listened to Human by ZICO while writing this. Maybe you should check it out, cos it suits the fic. Also, I don't really know what to name my chapters. I think it's a shame to have an empty chapter name. So give me some suggestions.

**A few hours later:**

"What do you mean you got isekai'd into another world?" He asked, watching her gulp down her fifth serving of strawberry shortcake. It annoyed him watching her mess up her clothes, crumbs falling onto her lap and into the open gap of her brand new, red hoodie. Though it was a simple hoodie, it was expensive. With absolutely no concern for her appearance, despite her cute face, she really was a stray. Sougo found himself sighing before he took a sip of green tea, as he waited for her to speak.

"I mean that—" One last bite and she set down her spoon, Sougo watched it clang onto the plate. He hated that sound. At least she took the napkin and bothered to wipe her face. "—I don't belong here."

"No, of course you don't." He acknowledged and turned his head to the window. "Look around you, human, all this. From the food you just ate, to the table, to the walls and the garden of this state, this is for nobles only. Other than nobles, we accept purebred humans. You are but a stray human who committed a sin, suicide, as they say. Not that I care. I've seen how humans live, I'm only surprised to know that more of you haven't died willingly yet."

"That's not what I meant, you dumb Chihuahua!" She slammed her hands against the table.

"Oi, careful!" Sougo sat up. "What did I just say? The table's expensive!" He let out a frustrated sigh before he leaned back again. "Well then, what do you mean?"

"I meant I got isekai'd into a different world, like the boring protagonists in isekai animes."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Isekai is when you teleport into another world."

"Ooh." He nodded his head, understandingly.

"Yeah, oh." Kagura repeated. "And in my world, we don't have half human, half dogs, or half human, half cats. Well, there's Catherine but she's an amanto like me. Everyone else in my world is either human, looks human or is an amanto. Including you, a human "

"I told you, I have no idea what you're talking about." Sougo observed her actions and noticed how they weren't too stiff or too nervous, rather, they were relaxed even though she was causing an outbreak; her facial expressions prove that she's serious, she even seemed angry. It all sounded ridiculous, but there's no reason for her to lie. Unless she was actually crazy and needed to be sent to the mental hospital. "What's an amanto?"

"An amanto is like a mix of humans with other genes. For example, Catherine is an amanto because she's half cat, half human. I'm also an amanto because I'm a yato, who have human features, but aren't human. In our world, humans live on a planet called Earth which the amantos took over at some point. But after a few years, humans and amantos lived together in peace. And I'm a yato who came to Earth looking for a family, and that's where I found Yorozuya Gin-chan and Megane Shinpachi."

She sounded way too happy. He began to stand up. "Alright. Let's take you to the mental hospital—" 

He stopped when the girl grabbed at his arms, toppling the plates and teacups spilling over the table. He eyed one of the servants to come over to clean before he returned to face the girl.

"Wait, wait, you damn Chihuahua!" 

"Don't call me Chihuahua!"

"You called me human." Her eyes softened and Sougo couldn't help but drown in the two oceans of hers. Maybe she was right, a little right. There was no way a human would look so beautiful. And if anything, she looked foreign. Japan, and other asian countries, is notorious for their tan skin and dark hair and eyes. If he does see anyone with a palette, then it's either hair dye or cosplay. "I told you. I'm not human."

"Look, brat. I don't care about what or where your old world is. Since you came here, you might as well adapt to the new world. You're lucky enough to be adopted by me, do you know what will happen if some wild dogs took hold of you?" She shook her head slowly. "You can get raped. You can be sold to the black market. And a human as pretty as you can be worth millions, you won't know until you're under the knife."

"If that's what's gonna happen, then I'm better off dead in the river."

"Suit yourself." Sougo pushed her away and made way for the servant to clean the table.

"Where are you going?"

"To the garden for a walk." He answered, his head didn't turn around. "You should come. Resting after eating will damage your body system, so get some exercise."

-

**In another world:**

This was getting weird. 

"Oi, China. If you're gonna sneak up from behind and attack me, you better do it quickly. Oi, China? China?" No response. Sougo turned around and only saw a few passerbys eyeing him weirdly. Still, even if she was in the water, she should have at least responded. Sougo hovered over the railing. His eyes widened. The body was gone. "What the—"

Crap. 

What the hell was he gonna do?

-

**A few minutes later:**

Kagura had only seen flowers as pretty as the ones in this garden when she was in Soyo-chan's castle. Even though this was a different world, she came to the realisation that most of the things remained the same. For example, flowers. There were still roses and lilacs and daffodils. The sky was still bright and blue, and the sun remained bright. The way she liked it. But one thing she didn't like was Okita Sougo, not that she had ever liked him. But she doesn't really hate him either.

"Oi." He called her softly. "I know humans like to run about, but make sure you don't mess up the flowers. Matsudaira would be angry at me if he found out I recked his property."

"Oh, that's right." Kagura got up from her knees and made her way back to Sougo, who was standing at the centre of the garden. She spoke as she watched him make his way to a bench. Memories of him—old Sougo, Sadist—sleeping on the bench with his signature eyepatch flooded her mind. As well as moments when they didn't fight and instead conversed normally, on the same park bench. Their favourite spot. She shook herself out of her reverie. "You said something about your name being Matsudaira Sougo, what's up with that?"

"What do you mean? That's my name." He blinked blankly.

Kagura sat down beside him and copied his pose, her head resting on her crossed arms. "In my world, your name is Okita Sougo. You're a policeman, no, a tax robber, who works for Shinsengumi. Matsudaira controls the Shinsengumi, he's at the top of the chain."

"I was adopted by Matsudaira when I was young."

Okita Sougo, the adopted son of Matsudaira, one of the Government's highest officials. He was found by the man when he was eight, when he was somehow found in the state's garden. No one knew how he got in, neither did Sougo when he was confronted. He didn't know anything about his parents, not even what they looked like, or where he lived. All he knew was that he had an older sister, but she passed away. Some suspected that he was lying, he was telling the truth. And he was sure he had small cases of amnesia, but the doctor never confirmed it.

Overall, Matsudaira didn't find him harmless so he allowed Sougo to stay in the official residence whilst he looked for an orphanage or family to take him in. They didn't have a close relationship, but Matsudaira observed Sougo. He wasn't particularly kind to his daughter, Kuriko, but he couldn't blame the boy for he grew up in a harsh world. But he was smart for his age. Hell, he had the looks and a strong determination. And since Matsudaira struggled to get a son, and was often confronted about it after important meetings, he adopted Sougo.

At age sixteen, Matsudaira wanted to move his official residence elsewhere. But Sougo didn't want to leave, he was fine where he was—with Kondo-san and Hijikata-san. So he stayed here, whilst Matsudaira and Kuriko moved away. He didn't mind. It's been four years. They weren't his family, his only family was Mitsuba. And no other girl could ever replace her.

A voice brought him out of his reverie. "You were? Why? How? Doesn't Matsudaira already have a daughter? Didn't you have an older sister who took care of you—"

Kagura found Sougo's hand at her mouth, covering, preventing her from speaking any further. His irises narrowed. "How did you know I have an older sister?"

Muffles escaped Kagura's lips and she punched lightly at his arm with both hands, hinting at him to remove himself. He let go and allowed her to speak. "Gin-chan told me. I heard the rest from Mayora. I told you, I'm from another world. Maybe the me from this world wouldn't know, maybe she doesn't even exist. Hell, if she did, she'd be a rabbit. Like I said, I'm not human."

"That's not the question." He believed her. He gave in, he believed her. A lump forms at his throat when he recalls memories of his sister, before a few words hurled the lump out and he asked. "So how did you get here?"

"Dunno. Last thing I remembered was you pushing me off a bridge and I fell into the water. It was a lot deeper than I thought it was, and when I opened my eyes, I didn't recognise where I was. The bridge was gone. You were gone. And then—"

"Then I found you in the river."

"Then!" She emphasised loudly as she turned to him and gripped at his shoulders firmly, her knees propped upwards digging at the wood. "I woke up in your bed. Don't cut me off."

How bold for a human, for a pet, Sougo thought. What kind of relationship did they have in the other world? She seemed too comfortable around him. Mesmerized by her—looks, attitude, actions and her backstory. Out of the corner of his vision, he noticed two tall figures ahead dressed in black suits. He felt the presence of the human squirm slightly, wondering what he was thinking about and why he didn't say anything more. 

"Oh, Sougo. Good afternoon." Kondo greeted with a wave. Hijikata didn't say anything.

"Gorilla?! Mayora?!"

-

**A while later:**

"I can't believe it, you really went and adopted a human. Huh?" Hijikata puffed out a smoke. He had heard that Sougo was looking through human documents and files, and that some said he was going to adopt a human. Hijikata never believed it because Sougo was the loner type, he didn't like Hijikata or Kondo when the three were introduced as kids, he would never like a human pet. But here he was, with a human girl, proving him wrong.

"I can't believe that Gorilla and Mayora exist in this world too! I wonder where's Gin-chan and Shinpachi." 

"Who are you calling a Gorilla and Mayora?!" Hijikata pulled a face and spat, his cigarette still in the corner of his mouth clenched between the side of his teeth. Of course he wouldn't let his cigarette go. "You brat! Do you know who you're talking to? Don't think that just because you're Matsudaira Sougo's pet means that you can do and say whatever you want. In the end, you're still a human!"

"I'm not saying whatever I want. It's your nicknames, everyone knows you as Gorilla and Mayora." She stated, almost forgetting that she was in a different world. In truth, she did miss home. Kagura pointed at Kondo first, "Gorilla", then Hijikata, "Mayora."

Sougo hid his chuckle with a hand and averted his gaze, but the truth was displayed in his eyes and how it creased. She might be feisty but she was entertaining, which was perfect for boring days like these. Even with the ruckus that Kondo and Hijikata cause, or rather, he laid a trap for them to cause a ruckus and watched them get in trouble, things can get boring when all you do is study for school.

"Oi, Sougo!" Kondo called, his huge tail wagged frantically. "What are you laughing about?!" Even though Kondo was insecure about the nickname Gorilla, he was secretly shocked at Sougo for laughing. The boy did not laugh often and when he did, it is usually because someone was suffering—Hijikata, for example.

"Gorilla and Mayora. I like it. I've always thought Kondo-san was more than just a dog, his instincts are too wild. Gorilla. Sounds about right." He then turned to Hijikata. "And you, you're too obsessed with mayonnaise." 

"Don't you dare insult mayonnaise."

"I wasn't insulting mayonnaise."

Sougo explained who the two were, as well as another one but he wasn't to be seen today—Yamazaki. Kondo, Hijikata and Yamazaki were Sougo's playmates since he was eight. Now they've known each other for eight years, which was very long. So indubitably, they should be close yet all they did was argue—as Kagura noticed. Then again, that's what she did with Gin-chan and Shinpachi. Crap, she really missed home.

Kondo-san had even noticed her worried expression, asking her if she was okay or nervous before she shook her head no and reassured them that things were fine. Even though Sougo was slightly different, Gorilla and Mayora remained the same and that eased her. She wondered who else she could find in this world.

"So, what's her name?"

"Snowy." 

"No-aru." She retorted.

"No?" Sougo turned to the human. "What a shame. Sougo and Snowy sound like such a good pair. Our names even start with the same letter and sound. Besides, your skin is very white like snow. It suits you."

"Snowy's an overrated name."

"Then Scarlett then, it matches your hair."

"Scarlett's an ugly name."

"Huh, really? I heard Scarlett's a very popular name." He paused as realisation dawned upon him. "Ahh… But then again, I am of noble status, so maybe you should get an uncommon yet fancy name."

"Shut up, you dumb Chihuahua."

"Don't call me Chihuahua!"

"Well then, little girl." Kondo coughed before he spoke up, asking in a considerably kind tone. "What do you wanna be called?"

"Kagura-aru."

"Kagura-aru?"

"No, Kagura-aru but without the aru."

"Kagura-aru but without the aru?"

"No, you dumb Gorilla! It's Kagura, Kagura! Without the aru-aru!" Kagura yelled, her fingers dug into the sofa out of frustration with no regards to how expensive the leather was. "And why are we referencing one of Gintama's radio transmissions?!"

Hijikata puffed out another smoke before mumbling. "What the hell's a Gintama?"

Kondo whispered back. "No clue. This girl's crazy." He then turned to Sougo. "Oi, Sougo, are you sure you wanna keep her? She can destroy the whole state, you know.'

"She'll be fine. She's with me."

-

**The next day:**

"Why do I have to wear that ugly collar?!"

"Huh? Ugly?" He stopped and observed the collar in his hands, it was decorated with small sakuras. "I thought it was quite pretty, what, do you not like pink? Geez, I'll get you a red one then. Suits your clothes. And besides, you have to wear it because you're my pet. If you wanna see the outside world then you have to wear it, otherwise people will think you're a stray."

He stopped pressuring her and made his way to the dresser and pulled out a drawer full of colours. Kagura briefly wondered if the Sougo she knew had secretly bought this many collars. With this new Sougo, she could potentially discover many new things about him and blackmail Sadist.

"I'm not a pet!" She bit his arm.

"Ow! Why'd you bite me?!"

"I—because I—"

She stopped speaking when she saw him pull his sleeve up and lick his arm, not that she had any excuse to bite him. She just did it for her own pleasure. He groaned. "I knew some humans were rough, but I didn't think they were this rough. Pet or not, if you don't wear it then you'll be kidnapped and sold to the black market." 

Kagura froze, she hated how he constantly used that threat. Just how intimidating were the people in this world?

"Now be a good girl." He spoke with a honeyed voice that can't be trusted as he clasped the collar around her neck. Kagura winced at the slight pain, so long as it wasn't for SM play. "This one was custom made. All of these are, I bought them a few hours after I discovered you. That's when I decided I was gonna keep you. Don't lose it, got it? They're expensive." He finished with a few pats on her head, and to her surprise, she found herself liking it.

Maybe being a pet wasn't so bad.

-

**An hour later:**

She changed her mind.

"Why do I have to wear a leash too?!" She yelled, attracting the attention of the half dog half humans around them. Some whispered insults and rumours about humans to each other. Mainly mothers to their children warning them of human behaviour, their children would cower behind their mother in a followed up response. But Kagura didn't have the time to care about that.

"In case you run away." Sougo tugged at the leash, almost choking Kagura at her neck. Other than insults towards his humans, Sougo also heard some rumours regarding him. Matsudaira Sougo, the adopted son of a government official. Some asked quietly, hoping he couldn't hear, why did he adopt such a wild human? Others, I thought he hated humans. He scratched his head, unsure what to do about her. "You're such a kid."

"I'm not a kid! I'm sixteen!"

"All the clothes I buy for you are kids' sized."

"What?!" 

Kagura couldn't be any more embarrassed. Her body squirmed beneath the restriction of her collar and leash. She wondered what the real Sadist would say or do if he saw her like this, under his other self's control. He would, without a doubt, mock her relentlessly. But for some reason, she found herself liking this Sougo. After a while, she gave in to her owner and accepted the leash as she walked at a pace matching Sougo's. He wasn't as cruel or sadistic as the real one, she noted, and he seemed to care about her. The collar wasn't for his own benefit, rather, hers.

Still, he seemed to be enjoying this with a smile he couldn't hide. And Kagura couldn't forgive him for that. Every so often, he'd turn around and check on her condition to which she would stare back with a confused expression. He really did seem like he cared. Unlike the other humans who mocked stray humans without collars or leashes on the streets, it hurt to watch and not do anything about it. None of the passerby dogs did anything. They either stared or mocked along. Some didn't approve of this treatment of humans, but there wasn't much they could do than to watch in horror and pity. Almost crying. 

What was more horrifying was when she and Sougo passed an alley, she saw dogs using humans to play fight. Scars plastered over their bodies. The humans didn't even seem to mind. In fact, they looked like they wanted more scars—like a kid would want colourful, cartoon themed plasters—in a way to impress their friends. In this case, their supposed owners. If Kagura wanted to survive, then she must stick to Sougo.

Other humans that did have collars and leashes were put on display to be awed and patted at. 

Before she could think any further, she bumped into Sougo. She reluctantly took a step back and rubbed her forehead. An old man had stopped Sougo to talk, specifically about his pet human. Kagura was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even realise she was being put on display, and that everyone around her was cooing over her looks.

"She's pretty for a human."

"Look! Her eyes are blue."

"She's not Japanese, she's foreign."

"Must be expensive for Matsudaira Sougo."

It made her uncomfortable and she didn't know why. Previously, she would have loved all this attention because she was the Queen of Kabukicho. Now, it just felt weird. Perhaps it was because she wasn't truly recognised for who she was, but rather the idea that she was a cute human.

"Something wrong?" Sougo asked after the man left. Creepy, Kagura thought, how an old man could think a girl as young as sixteen was beautiful. When Sougo didn't get a response, he cleared his throat. "Kagura." She perked up at her name. "Is something wrong?"

"N-no."

"I'm hungry. Wanna eat something?" Sougo turned his head to the store in front of them, a cafe. On the posters were decorative and delicious looking cakes, which Sougo took his time to observe. 

Ah. She didn't eat breakfast this morning. Strange how she just noticed now. 

They entered inside and was gestured to sit beside the window. A few of the customers gasped at the sight of Sougo, just how popular was he? All of the maids and servants were now on alert, as they couldn't disappoint him. Kagura overheard some people whispering, wondering why he would be here since he could just order any dessert he wanted—cheap or expensive—at home. When Kagura turned to Sougo, he didn't say anything and just looked at the menu.

A maid nervously shuffled over. "Hi, what can I get for you today?"

Kagura held the menu in her hands, eyeing it up and down. The maid noticed that Kagura wasn't looking at the picture section. Rather, it was the words that she had heard many pets complain about being boring to look at and that their owners spent too much time looking. Just order already, they'd say impatiently.

"Can I get some strawberry—"

"Ah—you can read?" The maid stiffened her postured as she asked, pulling her noteboard against her chest. A mix of horrified shock and surprise plastered over her face and Kagura couldn't tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Sougo didn't say anything.

"Something wrong?" Kagura raised her head. She couldn't exactly read, just hiragana and some amounts of kanji. Memories of Sadist mocking her for her lack of kanji knowledge still haunted her till this day. Supposedly, the maid was shocked a foreigner could read. Though in her world, people aren't really shocked since half of Japan's citizens are amantos and aliens who came looking for a job.

"N-no! A human that's pretty and can read is expected of Matsudaira's pet!" The horror from her face ceased and she quickly took note of Kagura's orders. That's right, Kagura remembered. Pets don't read. Sadaharu doesn't really know how to read either, but he can understand instructions. Still, you wouldn't expect Catherine, a half cat half human to not be able to read. Human or not, she isn't a pet.

The maid walked away whilst Kagura and Sougo waited. She should be excited—for cake and other delicious desserts that she was allowed to eat for free from Sadist's pockets—but she's not. She wasn't dumb. She knew what exclusion was. Due to her alien status in her old world, so many kids had grimaced at her. It took her a long while to gain their trust by showing off her strength to the boys and her pretty, cute face to the girls. 

Here, things only got harder. As she thought about her old world, she wondered about her friends. Catherine would still be a cat in this world, wouldn't she? What would Gin-chan and Shinpachi be? Dogs? Ah, well, Gin-chan would still be an old man dog. Would Anego be a dog too? Or a pretty, feminine cat? She couldn't be a gorilla since Kondo didn't turn into a gorilla. It seemed like the dominant creatures were half dogs and half cats.

Out of the corner of her vision, she saw a young man in a familiar blue keikogi and hakama. His black hair was shortly trimmed, and when he turned around so his face would be clear to Kagura, resting on the man's two ears was Shinpachi.

"What's wrong?" Sougo asked.

"N-nothing. I just need the bathroom."

"Go quickly then."

Kagura stood up, only for her knees to bump against the edge of the table. As it turned out, Sougo was still holding onto the leash. He quickly let go when he saw Kagura wince in pain. 

Embarrassed, Kagura frantically left the table. Her legs moved quickly, and before she realised, she bumped into Shinpachi. She felt her ribs being jabbed, but Shinpachi flopped onto the floor so easily. She almost forgot, even though she was human, she was still a yato with super powers.

"What is this?!" Kagura turned to the voice and a man presumed to be the manager came up. "We never wanted humans to work here in the first place."

"I'm so sorry, sir! I'll clean this up right away!" He picked up his glasses first, stained with cream which he rubbed it off with his sleeves, and put it back on. His hands frantically gathered the plate and the glass cup, thankfully it wasn't broken.

"I only accepted you because I pitied you. Maybe I should just fire you now—"

"Don't fire him!" 

Kagura stepped in front of Shinpachi.

"What?"

"I said don't fire him." Kagura attempted at an intimidating, yet cool voice. For a second, the manager was baffled. "Do you think it's okay to treat humans like this?"

"You… are you joking? You think that just because you're Matsudaira's pet, you can speak to me like that?" 

"Matsudaira's..?"

"It says so on your collar."

Crap. Crap, crap—dammit Kagura! What kind of situation have you dug yourself into? Didn't Sougo say not to do anything reckless? Oh, actually, he didn't say that. Nevermind. 

(Cough, cough.)

Dammit, Kagura! What kind of situation have you dug yourself into?

"Oi, Megane. Have you got my order yet?" An old man's voice groaned as he brushed his hand through his hair. Kagura looked behind the manager, her eyes widened at the sight of Gin-chan. She was just about to call his name before he continued. "Geez, why did I get a human instead of a cute girl to serve me? Oi, old man!" He raised his voice at the manager as he pulled at his collar, forcing him forward. "This is all your fault."

"W-what…" 

"Hm?" Gintoki looked down.

"What do you think you're doing?" Gintoki looked puzzled, and so did Kagura, Shinpachi and everyone else in the cafe. Sougo just stared, entertained. The manager released himself from Gintoki's pull and threw him to the ground. "Get out. You're banned."

-

**A few seconds later:**

"Ahh… I can't believe I got fired again."

"Ahhhhh…" Gintoki let out a bigger sigh. "I can't believe I got banned from one of the best cafes in town."

"Shut up, you two! Because of you, I didn't get to try anything! This was my first time here, at least you've tried something!" She pointed at Gintoki.

"Oi, oi. Don't point your fingers at me. You're the one who stood up to the manager first." Gintoki paused, taking a second look at Kagura. "And you're a human at that."

"You two are annoying as always, huh?" Kagura grumbled, earning a 'what the hell are you talking about?' and 'we just met'.

"Ummm… guys." Shinpachi straightened himself before he spoke. "Am I… the only one feeling some kind of deja vu?"

"Yes, you are." The three turned to the voice, it was Sougo. He closed the door behind him and raised a decorative cardboard box in his hand.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm not sure if I wrote Kagura too OOC, but she is technically in another world and she realises quite soon she needs to act smart to survive.
> 
> The next chapter will be called: Strayed.


	3. strayed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I think I should've made this clear from the beginning, there's more than just to OkiKagu. There's some amounts of plot and we get to dive into everyone's counterparts' stories. Like Shinpachi, Gintoki, Hijikata and Otae.

**In another world:**

"Have you found her yet?" Gintoki asked, his head caked with sweat, his mind and expression frantic. This was the nth time he had asked the same question and the nth time he showed himself up at the Shinsengumi without a warning or heads' up, his excuse was that his daughter had disappeared and that alone was a good enough excuse. More than good enough.

"No." Hijikata answered, for the nth time. After what Sougo had told him privately, he couldn't imagine the guilt the young boy was feeling. Being responsible for the disappearance of a young girl. He reassured Sougo many times, who claimed he wasn't worried but was searching through the whole of Edo for her, that it wasn't his fault and that a yato could protect herself. He saw the worry in Gintoki's eyes, a glint from the sun indicating the slightest hint of tears. "Not yet." He added for extra reassurance.

"What am I supposed to do when her old man baldy finds out? Ah, forget about her old man when she has a batshit crazy brother. And I have absolutely no clue where she is. No hint. No trace. How can someone just disappear like that?" Gintoki sighed out of frustration, his back leaned against the wall. "I failed as her Earth father."

"I don't think you failed." Gintoki raised his head slightly, amused. Hijikata continued, still puffing with smokes and cigarettes despite the light rain. Hihikata never liked Gintoki, but the silver perm had gained his respect since long ago. He couldn't let a father feel disappointed in themselves. "The fact that you're still looking for her means you care for her. So long as you care, that's what makes you a father."

"Eh~ I'd never thought I'd hear that from you."

"S-shut up." Hijikata quickly retorted back, face hinted with red. He hated that teasing, mocking face of Gintoki's. Then, he coughed before he got serious. "And anyways, I think I have something to tell you. But I'm not sure if Sougo wants me to tell you, so keep it a secret, ah, not that it will lead us anywhere."

"Go on."

-

**20 minutes later:**

"Slow down with all the eating, you'll end up with stomach issues." Sougo yawned. After the incident in the cafe, Sougo felt obligated to get up and apologise. After the manager saw him, there was shock on his face knowing he had just kicked out Sougo's pet. In the end, he was given food for free. "Geez. I can't believe you actually stood up to the manager, didn't I tell you that humans are inferior species? You shouldn't go around doing whatever you want."

"Human or not, you shouldn't treat anyone like that. Gin-chan would have done the same!" Kagura answered, after finishing her cake. The taste of strawberry cream still on her lips and she licked it off, she had never tasted anything with so much flavour. But then again, these people were dogs and cats with stronger senses and tastes. The average human was not able to detect stronger flavours, not that she didn't like anything from the human world.

"Your Gin-chan doesn't exist in this world." He told her, a little too casually. As if it was a simple fact and that she should move on without Gin-chan. But no matter how many times he had implied the idea, she remained stubborn and refused to listen. Humans. As Hijikata said, they've always been stubborn.

"This world's Gin-chan just stood up for a human, even though he's a cat."

"Huh? That's your Gin-chan?" Sougo's eyes widened. "The silver perm head with old man scent?"

Sougo turned to look at Gin-chan. He believed he had seen him a few times, though the occasions were scarce, and it was nothing more than a coincidence in the park. His eyes were half-lidded, he looked almost dead yet he was thriving off a strawberry parfait. Despite his looks, he seemed fit so he couldn't be more than thirty years old. He pondered, what kind of relationship did Kagura and Gin-chan have? Were they just friends? Father and daughter? There's no way he was a lolicon, was he?

"Oi, you." He addressed the perm head, ignoring the glasses wearing human. "What's your name?"

"Me?" His eyelids raised slightly and Sougo nodded. "Sakata Gintoki. But you can just call me Gin-chan, I own the business Yorozuya Gin-chan."

"Yorozuya?"

"Odd Jobs." Gintoki explained. "Ah, speaking of jobs, sorrying for getting you fired." He turned to Shinpachi. "But then again, it was kinda your fault for not bringing me my parfait on time."

Shinpachi simply sighed. There was no use playing the straight man now, not when he's a human and he's in front of a cat. And definitely not after what just happened in the cafe, he couldn't risk yelling at anyone.

"Why don't you just hire Shinpachi?"

Everyone turned to Kagura. Shinpachi's eyes widened, this was the first time anyone has ever been so kind to him. But making an offer for a cat? Was she being ridiculous?

"Me? Hiring a human?"

"That's right, Danna." Sougo interjected. "You could hire him. Humans do all sorts of odd jobs on their own anyways, so he'd be perfect help. And it doesn't seem like you hate humans as much as the manager."

"Well I don't really have anything against them."

"You guys…" Shinpachi stared at them in awe.

"You can hire me too!"

Sougo hit Kagura in the head with a chop. "You have me and all the money, food and clothes you want. Why the hell do you wanna be hired?"

"Why can't I get a job?" Kagura asked. "If I got a job, then I don't have to be a pet anymore."

"Ah, well… Getting a job is quite difficult." Shinpachi looked at Kagura. How naive, he thought. A feeling of jealousy tugged at his heart, a rock fell into his gut and words were difficult to form. "You have to pass the human exam and get an ID number. You have to work very hard, in all aspects from mathematics to physical examinations. Both my Aneue and I decided to take the exams after my father passed away." 

The air was increasingly thick, Sougo and Gintoki didn't say anything. They avoided their gazes. Kagyra couldn't even look at him either, she didn't know why, it was just difficult. Every time her eyes met his, she saw someone who wasn't Shinpachi, before her eyes slipped away rapidly and faced the floor. A side the human Shinpachi had never shown to her before, he always remained kind and understanding. And if she didn't understand anything, he would explain it to her in the simplest and kindest way. She could only hold in her breath. 

"The fact that you want a job means that you're privileged. You're born here in the city, already with an ID number." Shinpachi stood up and sucked in a breath. His hands and fingers trembled so much, he couldn't even form them into angry fists. "With your specific looks, you must be from a human breeding facility for nobles. Me? I'm gonna be a stray soon, without a job. And my Aneue, she's a thousand times prettier than you are. She would have made a great pet!"

"Actually, Kagura was a stray once." Sougo interjected again. Shinpachi perked his head up. "I couldn't find any documents or records of her. And when I found her, she was in the water under the bridge after committing suicide. I took her home because I pitied her. I thought she was pretty cute at first, but she's kind of a hassle. But if your sister is good, I'm willing to switch—"

"Aghh!" Gintoki yelled out of frustration. "This situation is getting so awkward. Are any of you unaware that you're not supposed to give away your backstory to strangers?!" He turned to Shinpachi. "I'll hire you. You don't have a choice, human. If your Aneue wants to work for me, she can. Just a warning, I don't get too many customers, so don't expect much paycheck."

"Huh?" Shinpachi felt his hot honey oozing in his heart. What was this warm feeling? No one had ever been this nice to him before. "I…"

"Yay!" Kagura jumped onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You got a job, Patsuan!"

"My name's not Patsuan—" He almost choked as he spoke, the girl was strong as hell. "—and why are you being so nice to me? Right after all the things I've said to you…"

"I don't need a reason to help someone." Gintoki answered instead.

-

**The next morning:**

_ They were on the bridge again. Why was she here again? Did she return home from the mysterious portal under the water, and now she was challenging him to another fight? Did he wait for her? She didn't explain anything, he didn't ask what happened. No words were exchanged. He pushed her off again, this time without the need of pushing against her umbrella for her umbrella was nowhere to be seen.  _

_ She fell into the water again, this time her eyes refused to shut and she couldn't clench her throat and nose to prevent the water from entering. She was choking and she opened her mouth for air, stupid mistake, water infiltrated her mouth, the taste of chlorine exploded in her mouth. She could no longer remember the taste of sukonbu and strawberries. _

_ "S-sadist."  _

_ I'll kill you. _

_ But what came out was inaudible sounds of gulping on water, and she was sure that some pebbles and chips of rocks entered her mouth, which she swallowed whole but the pain could not be felt, and choking and coughing. Her arms grasped for nothing, her legs kicked viciously in an attempt to swim upwards but the water was dragging her down by her arms and legs. The grip was strong and she couldn't overcome or defeat it with any amount of thrashing.  _

_ Cold. Her body, lungs and stomach filled with water, felt cold. Like icy, cold water injected into her vein, yet her throat burned like hell.  _

"You're awake."

Hot. She felt hot, like needles stabbing at her throat now and all the icy water had been boiled. Rocks pounding into her head, creatures numbing at her brain. She felt something tightening at her neck, and as she got up, a sting worsened the pain and she let out a rough cough.

"You don't have to wear your collar at home." It was Sougo, he was sitting on her side of the bed. He patted her back, his voice abnormally soft. It wasn't honeyed. It was genuine. He waited after she let out a few more coughs then spoke again. "You went to bed with the collar on, didn't you? You didn't need to do that. I think it slipped and tightened itself when you were moving around while unconscious. You almost died."

She blinked away the fog in her eyes and saw Sougo, and behind him, Hijikata and Yamazaki. On the bedside table was a mug of steamy milk. The ghost escaping the mug was more welcomed than the ghost of smoke coming from Mayora's cigarette. Didn't he know not to smoke when someone's coughing? She could end up coughing even more.

"You had a dream, I believe. You keep calling Sadist, Sadist, Sadist. I'll kill you. Do you hate me that much?" She didn't answer and when she regained her breath, she gulped down on the hot milk as Sougo held the bottom of the mug. Her throat was burning but she couldn't care less, it tasted much better than the chlorine. "Geez, what kind of dream did you have? Did I kill you by choking you to death?"

"Thank God, you're okay." Said Yamazaki. "I wouldn't know what the people would think if Captain's pet died after a day."

"Mn." Hijikata agreed. "That would certainly cause a ruckus."

Kagura let out a huge breath after she finished the milk. "Where's Gorilla?"

"Huh?" Sougo blinked. "Why do you care where he is? You almost died. And you're sick with a fever, not sure how but you're sick, you have better things to worry about. Like your health."

"I was just curious."

"You seem to care about others more than you do me. First it was a perm head, then a Megane, and now a Gorilla?" He patted her head. "Did you forget who your owner is? Maybe I should sell you."

"No!"

"Alright, alright. I was just kidding." He got up from the bed and looked at her once more. "I'm going to my classes now. Be a good girl for me and don't run off when I'm not away."

"Then, we'll be off too! Kagura-san." Yamazaki beamed at her as he and Hijikata followed Sougo from behind. "If you need anything, just call us."

-

**A few hours later:**

Kagura had taken a mundane nap for around two to three hours, as she checked from the alarm clock on her bedside table. It was strange now that she thought about it, getting a fever from a dream? Usually when she had fevers, Gin-chan and Shinpachi would be assisting her. Gin-chan would read his JUMP to her, even though she hated Shounen, and Shinpachi would make her some miso soup. Being sick had its benefits, but it was meaningless without them. 

Whatever. At least she found them, and at least she helped Shinpachi get a job. She wondered what they were doing now, maybe nothing at all since they barely get any customers. Still, she assumed both Shinpachi and Anego to be dogs like Sougo. Ah, but Gin-chan was a cat. That was something she never expected. She wondered what Anego was doing, was she still working at the Hostess Club?

After a while, she didn't feel sick anymore. Her body was more refreshed than ever and she wanted to get up and run or fight again. She did remember what Sougo said to her, but she was born a rebel. When the maid left after she brought a second glass of milk, this time cold as Kagura wanted, she gulped it down quickly and dressed herself in a red hoodie and sweats. The clothes were too modern for her liking, but she liked that it was baggy as it reminded her of her old red shirt pants.

She looked at herself in the mirror, there was a bright red line circling her neck. Maybe it'd be better if she avoided the collar this time. If the dogs challenged her to a fight, she could easily beat them. That'll teach them not to mess with humans. She couldn't find her two hair ornaments so she let her hair down, she almost looked like a punk. With one more brush through her hair, she left through the window of her room quietly and reached the roof tiles.

Thankfully, no one was around to catch her in the act. And it was around 12pm, so Sougo wouldn't be able to visit her until after 3. As for the others, they should be busy accompanying him. Kagura looked around and down, left and right, this looked more difficult than she imagined. She would have left through the front door if it weren't for the bodyguards. 

One step and her foot almost slipped. The tiles were extremely clean and smooth, they must clean it often. As expected from rich people. Her hand patted around the surface, looking for a tile that had the most friction. Step by step, she slowly made her way to the edge and hopped down. Though it was then that she realised that she was still standing on the state grounds, and there were still bodyguards roaming around. Maybe even cameras. She sighed.

This was gonna be a lot harder. 

But all she needed to do was climb over the walls.

-

**A while later:**

Although this place may seem like Edo, a lot of the buildings have switched places and the roads all look different. Last time she went out, she was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even realise where she was going. She just followed Sougo's guide.

"Move!"

Ouch. 

She rubbed her head after bumping into someone. Ah, she had forgotten. Humans were inferior.

"Who left this stray human on the streets?"

"Starve to death already!"

"Poor thing, she looks so lost."

"There's a mark on her neck, I think her owner abandoned her."

Tch.

  
  


She spat.

  
  


It's not fair.

  
  


Forget it. 

Getting to Yorozuya was gonna be difficult, considering she couldn't even find Snack Smile. She might as well go home and be good, like Sougo said.

"Oi, what are you doing here?" 

She looked up. "Gin-chan?"

"Gin-chan? Why are you getting so buddy-buddy with me when we've just met yesterday? Oi, I asked you a question: what are you doing here?"

-

**An hour later:**

After taking Kagura to the Yorozuya building, a small residence above Snack Smile like her old world. Just slightly different. The building was more modern and the signature Japanese roof tiles ceased to exist. Still, the blue couches were there in the same formation. Opposite. On each side of the coffee table and Gin-chan's desk was facing the table. Shinpachi wiped the table and set down a plate of green tea and senbei.

Kagura's eyes lightened at the common food. They were simple, cheap, but she often ate them with Gin-chan and Shinpachi. From little breaks between work to days where they were dying of boredom, and the only thing they could do was eat and drink. Healthy as green tea may seem, it didn't help their diet.

"Okay, okay. I said I was gonna hire Shinpachi, and maybe his Aneue, but I never said I would hire you!" Gintoki slammed his hands down at the table. 

"Why not?" Kagura said in between bites.

"Because! You're a pet! You're not supposed to work!" He explained. "And I don't have that much money anyways, you're only a hindrance."

"I can work without pay, not that you've ever paid me." She mumbled the last part.

"What?"

"Not that I need the pay." She said louder.

"Look, I know you're nothing more than a human. But unless you have an ID number—"

"I have one."

"—and a work card, I can't hire you. Sure, I can and I won't get into trouble. But you will and you'll be sent to a human shelter or exiled from this country, because you're working illegally."

"You can just not tell anyone."

"Even if I don't, the police will check my employee history if they find anything suspicious."

"You're living a good life, Kagura-chan." Shinpachi smiled this time, similar to the smile she was used to. Surprisingly, he wasn't angry. "Do you not want it?"

"I…" 

She was out of words. It wasn't that she didn't want it. It was just that she missed Gin-chan and Shinpachi, and if she couldn't go back home then she at least would want to work with them. It would feel like home. But on second thought, it really wasn't home. They didn't want her. 

"I get it." She stood up. "I'm going home."

"Ah, wait! Kagura!" 

"What?"

"I have a job for you." Gintoki finally said. Shinpachi looked at him in shock. Kagura felt a little happy, then he coughed and explained. "No, actually, it's a bit strange coming from Yorozuya, but I have a request for you."

"What is it then? Tell me, tell me."

"You know… Matsudaira Sougo has a few friends by his side, right?"

She repeated. "Friends?"

"Well, more like his three acquaintances."

"Oh! You mean Gorilla, Mayora and the other one?"

"Yes, yes! That's right!" Gintoki beamed. "I was wondering if you could ask Mayora, er—Hijikata, if he remembers me."

"Mayora?"

"We used to get in trouble at school all the time. Being cat and dog, we don't really get along and we'd always cause fights. But eventually, we became really close friends. Often, we'd sneak off and skip class to talk and nap on the grass together. But then, after he met Souichiro, we drifted apart. I was just wondering if he still remembers me."

"You two… were childhood friends?"

She was sure that in her world, Gintoki's only childhood friends were Zura, Takasugi and Sakamoto. Hijikata's childhood friends were Sadist and Gorilla. There were many differences between the two worlds that shocked her, but this shocked her to the maximum.

"Yeah."

-

**A few hours later:**

Kagura managed to get home before 3pm, albeit now she was sweaty and hotter than before. Out of breath again. She stayed at Yorozuya for way too long, and before she realised it, time had quickly passed by. It was luck that she managed to get back into her room, pull off her hoodie and sweats and shoved them back into her wardrobe. She checked the mirror once more, her hair was a mess but she could just lie and say it was her body shifting during sleep. Her red mark was nearly gone.

"Wow. You haven't gotten any better, you look worse. Maybe I should get you another mug of hot milk." After his classes, Sougo immediately came to check up on her. Hoping that she had gotten better, but was only faced with a worsened fever. When he stopped patting her head, he flicked her in the forehead and watched in yelp in pain. "Is that what you think I was gonna say? Tell me the truth. You went outside today, didn't you? And you ran back home so fast so that you could develop sweat and your temperature would get higher, so you could lie to me?"

"H-how did you know?"

"I can smell you. Your smell is mixed with dirt and cats." He sat down on the side of the bed, Kagura felt the weight fall. His fingers brushed through the mess of her hair and through the knots formed. "You visited Yorozuya Gin-chan, am I wrong?"

She gave in. "... No."

He sighed. "Why are you so attached to him? You don't know this Gin-chan, he's just a Danna who owns the same business and looks the same as your Gin-chan. You won't survive working for him." His eyes stared at the window and the sill, where Kagura's slightly muddy footsteps can be seen. Through the window, he watched the sun as the golden hour arrived. Had Sadist—no, Sougo—always looked this good?

Was he jealous?

"You can go out any time. Visit him if you want." His eyes turned back to face hers, observing her. "Only after your fever has gone down. I see your mark is disappearing." His fingers slithered onto her neck and traced the line, and out of the sudden, he pecked her on the forehead. "Get better." 

And with that, he quickly left her room.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I think Imma name the next chapter Worried. Also, I'm been posting often because it's the weekend. I hope I can get another chapter out soon before the end of next week.
> 
> Also, I literally forgot that Kagura is allergic to the sun.
> 
> 👁👄👁
> 
> Let's just pretend that the sun in this world doesn't harm her. It was for animals anyways.


	4. worried

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This took me longer than I expected. I think I'm invested in the story too much, it might take me more than eight chapters. Who knows?
> 
> Another song shall be added to the playlist: get u a bunny by suggi.

**One boring day:**

Days get boring without China. There's nothing to do other than worry about her whereabouts. And when he wasn't worrying about her, he was patrolling and finding himself walking around the places, the park and the bridge, where he would usually see her. Because he kept telling himself that she'd come back, that she wasn't lost. Rather, she'd been there all along, he just needed to double check, only to be disappointed. And when he wasn't patrolling, he was sleeping. And in his dreams, he would see China.

Just simple dreams where they would fight and the dream would end before they could determine who won, just a second and slash away from bringing her down. Forcing her to admit her defeat. Things he would dream of even when she was there, even when he was awake. Occasionally, there would be the dreams when they would just sit on the bench or under a tree and talk. Useless conversations that could be forgotten after minutes, like who would kill who first or hurling insults. Meaningless conversations. All these dreams and yet he had not grasped the chance to ask where she is.

After three days they decided to contact Umibozu and Kamui in the end, anyway, Danna suggested that it could be a yato thing to suddenly disappear. In the end, neither knew anything about it. Umibozu, as knowledgeable as he was, had never heard of sudden disappearance. As worried as he was, he was on a mission so he couldn't come to Earth. But the old man promised to look into missing disappearances relating to yatos. Kamui, on the other hand, assumed it was a joke and ended the call with "good, good".

After Hijikata broke their unsaid, unagreed promise, Danna came to him and said that it wasn't his fault. Typical of Danna. Always acting like the adult he was, it pissed Sougo off because it was his fault. He was willing to confess: he was worried.

Just where are you, China?

Today was the fourth day he visited the bridge and looked down at the water. He watched his reflection move in ripples and disappear as he threw a rock at his face, cursing himself in his head. The rock slowly descended into the rock ground and it reminded him of the times when he threw China, and when China threw him, to the bottom. Splashes and crashes. It was a place they familiarize themselves with, a place of comfort and commotion.

Missing posters of you will be put up soon if you don't show up, China. What if everyone really did think you were dead when you weren't? How are you gonna explain yourself?

-

**The next day:**

In the morning, Kagura woke up too early. She didn't close the curtains at night and so the sunshine easily seeped through the window and shone on her obnoxiously. She turned to her alarm clock. 9pm. Okay, maybe for her it was too early but for Sougo it wasn't. By now, he should be attending his first class. It was still Friday, so he still had school. Though she wondered if a rich kid like him was still allowed to end class early, since it was a Friday. 

What she does know was that he wouldn't be able to provide her breakfast, so if she wanted food, she would have to go to the kitchen. And she was more hungry than she was tired. Against her will, she forced herself up. Removing the blankets, she shivered as the icy air embraced her. Icicles stabbing into her legs. Perhaps she'll eat something hot for breakfast.

It took her a while to find the kitchen, as the house was big and she didn't exactly get the time to explore on her own. Other than her bedroom, her personal bathroom, Sougo's bedroom and the dining room, she didn't really know her way until she stumbled upon one of the servants who pointed her towards the kitchen. Strange, Kagura thought, he didn't offer to make me anything. I'm an expensive pet, Matsudaira Sougo's pet. Why do I have to do everything myself?

"There's nothing here…" She mumbled to herself as she looked into the fridge. For a house so big, there was barely any food. A dozen of eggs, a carton of milk and a bottle of mayonnaise.

"What are you doing?" The voice shocked her as she quickly stood straight and closed the fridge door. It was Mayora. 

"Looking for food."

"You won't find anything in Sougo's personal kitchen." Hijikata explained, entering the kitchen.

"He has a personal kitchen?"

"He doesn't really use it though. We just so happened to have an extra kitchen in this house, it used to be Matsudaira's daughter's, Kuriko, personal kitchen. But before they left, Kuriko handed it to Sougo." He said as he opened one of the upper cupboards and took out a small bag of rice, then gestured it to Kagura. "Sometimes, we put extra food here."

Kagura took a closer look around the kitchen, and behind Hijikata was a rice cooker. "I got it-aru!"

"Huh?"

-

**Half an hour later:**

"Eggs on rice? Isn't this what commoners eat?"

"Shut up, Mayora freak. Aren't you a commoner too? You're only living the good life because you're friends with Chihuahua!"

"Actually, I was born as the son of a rich man. But because he was reckless with money, I soon lost everything. I said I because I lost him and mother as well." Gin-chan had never said anything about his backstory, Kagura thought. 

Soon she was brought out of her reverie when she watched Hijikata grabbed the bottle of mayonnaise and squirted a dump of creamy dressing over the raw egg and rice. Even in this world, some things were still the same. Who the hell eats eggs with eggs? If he wanted to have some flavour with egg on rice, he could have used some pepper or salt instead.

"Oi, Toshi."

"Don't call me Toshi."

"Toshi or Mayora, choose one!"

"Shut up, you brat! Have you forgotten your position? You're speaking to a dog, a dog! You, a mere human!" 

"Tch."

"Anyways, what did you want?"

"I was gonna ask you something."

"Go ahead.

"Do you… No." Kagura shook her head. Hijiikata was briefly puzzled before he gobbled down on his breakfast. She just hoped he would brush his teeth for at least five minutes after this. "Do you have any friends other than Sougo?"

"Kondo-san and Yamazaki.'

"Ah, well, more like, someone that doesn't live in this house." Kagura elucidated.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, have you ever had any friends before Sougo?"

"Obviously."

Kagura sighed internally. This was going nowhere and she soon realised she needed to switch up her strategy. Think, think, Kagura. "What do you think of cats?"

"Ha?"

"It's obvious that you hate humans—"

"I don't hate them, not necessarily."

I didn't ask, she thought, you bastard, and don't cut me off. "So what do you think of cats?"

"I deteste them."

"Why?"

"No reason."

"There must be a reason. Cats aren't inferior like humans, so there must be a reason why you hate cats. Right? Perhaps… you hated someone who was a cat… and it forced you to hate all cats?"

Hijikata set his bowl down on the table, not necessarily slamming, but hard enough that she could hear a clang.

Crap, she had gone too far.

"Sougo just finished his first class. He usually gets a fifteen minute break during this time, you should go see him." And with that, he placed his bowl in the sink and left.

Before Kagura blamed herself, she blamed Gin-chan for forcing Hijikata to hate cats. Whatever Gin-chan did, it had nothing to do with her.

-

**A few minutes later:**

"Chihuahua!" Kagura called his name as she jumped into his arms. She was surprisingly comfortable around him, though he expected for her to take a lot longer. It's only been three days and she's already tamed, if anything, it was rather suspicious. To Kagura, she didn't mind being buddies with Chihuahua anymore. After a night of contemplation, she had decided to accept her fate. There was no use in running, and besides, he allowed her to leave the house any time she wanted.

"I told you, don't call me Chihuahua." He said as he leaned into her neck, Kagura paused, and inhaled her scent. He didn't know what it was, but it was the mix of expensive Chanel and the natural scent of dirt that intrigued him. He wondered where she often ran to in order for the scent of dirt to become a part of her, even though she had showered and bathed with his body wash to rid of the scent. He pulled her away. "It's Sougo. Okita Sougo. Why are you here?"

"Toshi told me that you were on your break so I came to see you." Her eyes almost sparkled under the chandelier like diamonds, so transclucent that he saw himself in them.

"Toshi? You mean Hijikata? Oi, Kagura, what's with all the nicknames?" Even though he had stopped calling her Human, she still insisted on calling him Chihuahua. As if calling him by his first name was embarrassing, and from what he remembered, she did stutter when she first spoke his name. Perhaps she and the other Sougo weren't as close. He sat down on the couch and grabbed his school book for a second look.

"Anyways." She huffed a breath before she continued. "Could I get your permission to leave the house?"

"Sure." He said without looking up from his book.

"Okay, bye!"

"Wait!" He sat up and grabbed her wrist, her skin pale and soft. She winced as she looked down and he remembered to ease himself on the strength. "Did you come just to ask to go out?"

She nodded.

"I still have ten minutes before my next class. Don't you wanna relax with me?" 

"Ha?" She pulled herself away from his grip, her other hand tendering to the light, pinkish mark. "Why should I?"

"Are you dumb?" He asked her with a blank stare, to which she mirrored it. She didn't understand. Truly dumb. "Because you're my pet!"

"I told you, I'm not your pet!"

"I knew something was wrong with you! You weren't actually being nice to me because you're obedient. You just wanted stuff from me!"

"Even though I'm not a pet, isn't that how pet and owner relationships work?" She retorted back, spit coming out of her mouth. 

He wondered what went through his mind that made him adopt a wild beast like her, or why he decided to keep her even after Kondo-san's confrontation and after many difficulties in an attempt to tame her. He had seen other noble pets, whom were beyond obedient. Often quiet but he liked the quietness, he liked the serenity that comes with it. On second thought, he could see why human him and Kagura didn't get along. Sougo sighed. "Forget it."

"Well…" Kagura twiddled with her thumbs, her voice abnormally quiet and squeaky. As if her voice wasn't pitched enough. But Sougo had to confess, it was cute. Adopting her had some benefits. "If you want to cuddle, I don't mind."

-

**An hour later:**

"That's all he said?"

"Yep."

"Nothing more?"

"Yep. That's right."

"Are you sure he didn't mention a friend?" 

Here the two were, sitting at the same bench in the same park as they did last time. Because of her wealth, she offered to buy them cold drinks from the vending machine. For the very first time, she was the one treating. She almost felt proud. 

Here they were without Sougo or Shinpachi. Obviously Sougo was attending classes after they finished cuddling, Kagura's face was still hot from the heat of his embrace. Shinpachi, on the other hand, was told that there weren't any jobs today. And since it was a Friday, he could take the day off. Even though Shinpachi wouldn't have anything else to do.

"No. He sounded more disgusted at the word 'friend'." Kagura elucidated. She crossed her legs, her red skirt was lifted a bit too high, exposing her thighs and she struggled to keep them in place. She released her crossed arms and sat up, straightening her back from the bench, and fiddled with the skirt. They really were kids' sized. She noted to wear shorts next time. "I think I pushed him too hard and he got pissed. I never thought Toshi can be that scary."

"Yeah. He's usually a good person, obedient too, but when you piss him off, he'll get real pissed. That's why I always picked fights with him because it was funny seeing how a goody two shoes can be so reckless." Gintoki confessed as he rested his arms on the bench arm, his chin resting on the back of his hand. A soft smile curved into his lips as he reminisced the memories like an old man reminiscing about his youthful years. 

Kagura didn't understand. She never went to a real school, or a temple school as Shinpachi called it. Though it doesn't seem like there was such a thing known as Temple schools here. She didn't understand what was so fun about school anyways. Perhaps she should ask Chihuahua to teach her sometimes. Compared to Sadist, Chihuahua would be a lot nicer when teaching her kanji. "I didn't think you two would be that close."

"What do you mean?"

"Did I tell you that I came from another world?"

"No."

"Well, I'm from another world. That's why I don't have any records on my existence. And the reason why I was in the water near the bridge wasn't because of suicide, there was a secret portal there that transferred me here when I was pushed into the water. And from where I'm from, there's another version of you and Toshi. And you hate each other."

Gintoki faked a loud cackle, mocking her, exaggerating so much that he almost choked on his strawberry milk. "Good one, brat." He managed to say. After a laugh so real, he actually ended up laughing. Kagura waited until he could take his breath and continued. "But you're not wrong, I still hate him."

"Oh?" She acknowledged, eyebrows raised in interest. "So it's like one of those cliches where you say that you hate someone but you really like them. You only pretend to hate them because you're embarrassed to admit that you're friends, isn't that it? I've seen it many times in the other Gin-chan's JUMP. It happens all the time between friends in Shounen manga."

"Huh? Friends?" Gintoki blinked. "No, you got it wrong. I asked you to talk to him for me because I wanna confess my love to him." 

Now it was her turn to spit out her drink.

.

.

  
  


.

  
  
  
  


.

  
  


"W—WHAT?!"

-

**A few hours later:**

In an attempt to keep Kagura's lousy mouth shut, Gintoki had offered to take her around the city of Tokyo—not Edo, as she learned—for a tour. So long as Kagura was paying with her wallet, or collar for that matter. Unbeknownst to Kagura, the collar had a barcode that could be scanned. She was shocked at first, but then again, it was the modern days. High technology was expected. And though this place didn't have aliens and spaceships, they had technical collars.

Still. There was no way—absolutely no way that Gin-chan and Mayora would be a couple. Kagura had never thought of them that way. If anything, she simply thought they were the adult versions of her and Sadist. Either that or the single dads of her and Sadist.

"So tell me, when did you realise you liked him?"

"When I had to kiss him for a dare."

"What kind of shit did you do in school?"

"Who knows?" Gintoki gulped down the last spoon of his strawberry parfait. "All I know is that he was the abandoned son of a rich man and that he was taken in by Matsudaira, and after we graduated high school, he became too prim and proper to hang out with strays like me."

"Strays?"

"I'm a stray cat, you know?"

"I've heard of stray humans, never stray cats." Then she added for measure. "Or at least not in this world."

"Stray cats are cats that don't belong to a social circle, don't have any friends of their own species, and are usually alone." He set down his spoon beside the glass of empty parfait. "In other words, kind of like humans, a little shunned from society. That's me. That's why I don't really get any customers." 

So that's why Hijikata despised cats and refused to be friends with cats. It was because he didn't want to be a stray dog. She assumed it was because they were homeless, well, Gin-chan is technically homeless since he never paid rent. But whatever kind of system or social status this world relied on, it was a dumb one. Stupid one. At least she made friends with another human, Shinpachi, and had an owner.

"Ah, but it makes sense for him. He was lucky to be adopted by a noble family, if he made friends with strays, he'd be betraying Matsudaira. He owes him, that man. Sometimes I wonder what he's thinking. Did he really stop being friends with me because I was a peasant or was it because of Matsudaira? Because it seemed like it was a mix of both." Gintoki spoke quickly, and without any hesitation or second thought, he must have thought about this often.

"Well, what are you gonna do now?" Kagura finally asked.

"I figured that if we couldn't be friends, then we had practically no chance being lovers. But I still want him to know that I care about him."

"I'll help you!" She slammed her hands on the table.

"What?"

"I said I'll help you confess your love. I live with him, I'll get him to change his mind."

"And why would you do that, damn brat?"

"Because you requested me to talk to him, and if I remember correctly, I haven't finished talking with him yet." She took a deep breath before she continued with a smirk. "And because, in my old world, I'm also a part of Yorozuya; it's my job to help people and it's not like I ever get paid. So I'll do it for free."

"You…" He chuckled. "You really should get Souichiro-kun to pay more attention to you. You're so bored, you're literally willing to help out a stray kitty."

-

**During the evening:**

It just so happened that there was a small festival in one of the remote areas of Tokyo. It had been long since Kagura had partook in festival activities, so Gintoki brought her there. He was tired, yet the girl was still full of energy. For a moment, he wondered if she was even human. Usually after a few hours of playtime, they'd fall asleep in their owner's lap. Gintoki never had a pet before, but he had seen cute videos on the internet. The ones that had gone viral.

Yet, ten hours—believe it or not—had passed by. It was 7pm now; and she still wasn't tired. Gintoki swore that he would pass out any time, his old man syndrome didn't help either. He didn't understand why she was so attached to him either and why she kept clinging onto his arm like she'd done this for so long, it was normal. Passerbys had mistaken her as his pet and commented how cute and pretty she was, and asked where he bought her. To which he answered that he was petsitting for a friend.

Since she was going to help him, he promised to show her a good time around Tokyo. No, not that kind of good time. Don't make me sound like a lolicon, Author-san!

"Oh, Gin-chan!" She tugged on his sleeve with one hand, and with the other, pointed at a tent. "What's that? Are people camping outside to meet a K-Pop star?"

"Huh?" Gintoki turned to where she pointed. "No. That's a story booth, they tell stories to children with puppets. I've seen Meowlan and Pawty and The Dog there a few times, when I was kid."

"I wanna go see!" She pulled him along.

"Ah—I told you, it's a place for kids!"

Still, he found himself entering inside with her. Kids turned around to face them, grimacing at the sight of a human at first before Gintoki reassured them with her collar. It was safer to let them believe that he was her owner. She's never seen a story booth before, he told them. He excused himself whilst he struggled to sit himself down, it was jammed packed. 

Ahead of them was a small story booth made with amateur-sawed wood and linen as the screen. The puppets were made of a wooden stick wrapped in brown cloths, and for the hair were knitted strings. The ears and tails were the only thing they put effort in. Not that they needed to put much effort into them if they were to be covered by the screen. It was the silhouette that told the story.

"This story is called Romeow and Juliette."

"Once upon a time, there was a cat named Romeow. He was handsome, young, wealthy and loved by all from his parents to the noble young ladies to the old ladies struggling to walk on their own, whom he always offered a hand to help them across the road. He not only had everything, but was also the embodiment of everything—the perfect man.

"However, his future was doomed the moment he laid eyes on a human girl. Her name was Juliette. While beautiful for a human, she was nothing compared to the noble ladies. She lacked a status in the social circles, money and dreams. After he met Juliette, he was determined to adopt her as a pet human. At first everything was normal. Nobody suspected anything, nobody minded the fact that Juliette always assisted him on work trips, and meetings with other nobles, including dates with other noble women.

"Until one day, Romeow's fiancée opened the door to his room and saw him committing adultery with Juliette. His fiancée felt more than betrayed. Immediately, she called for the guards to take her away. Romeow and his fiancée broke off their engagement. Two days later, it was news that Juliette was to be beheaded. But Romeow did not give up his love for Juliette. On the day of her beheading, Romeow was to cut his head off right after Juliette's head fell.

"But before Juliette's head was cut, the God of Love arose. He told the two lovers that they were only allowed to be together if they were sent to a world where humans ruled. They agreed without a second thought, even though the crowd objected. The God clicked his fingers and Romeow turned into a tiny, small creature with fur covering his whole body. From now on, he said, Romeow shall be your pet in another world. You shall be together and no one will ever object your relationship.

"Some have speculated that Juliette was a witch, that the only reason why Romeow fell for her was because she casted an attraction spell on him. And in the end, Romeow died for nothing. So while the story may be sad, it is important to remember that humans cannot be easily trusted." At this, the children turned to Kagura and muttered insults. 

The story ended and people began to leave one by one. It was a stupid story. Didn't make any sense at all and it was far from romantic. Kagura had heard of it from her friends back in the human world, it was a classic European story originated from Italy. Two lovers who couldn't be together. While she felt bitter about the glares the children gave her, it was overall stupid and she wasn't really affected by it.

Though...

She grabbed onto Gintoki's arm and asked him. "Gin-chan! Gin-chan! Do you think that story can take me back to the human world?"

"How would I know?!" He groaned as he pushed the brat away. "They better if you don't stop hugging me."

Kagura pulled away and noticed Gintoki stare into the linen storyboard. "Gin-chan, tell me, tell me. If humans and animals can't fall in love, can dogs and cats fall in love?"

"Dunno…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm not sure if a story booth is a real thing in Japan, but I do know that they like to entertain people with stories with puppets.


	5. objectified

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: For my first four chapters, I uploaded them quite quick because it was the weekends and I had nothing to do.
> 
> But now that it's school on the weekdays, I won't have as much time :((

**A few minutes later:**

The two had visited every stop in the festival and Gintoki was sure that he was racking up the bills for Souichiro-kun, though Kagura didn't seem to mind. Souichiro-kun must be really rich then for her to not worry about money, even as a human, he had seen many humans who would cling onto even the littlest pennies. For example, Madao, whom he saw a week ago reaching for five yen under a vending machine. In a way, he did pity humans. 

Still, Gintoki was tired. So it was decided that after the puppet show, he would take Kagura home. Even though she wasn't showing any signs of tiredness, Souichiro must also feed her a lot of sugar. Perhaps more than the recommended amount per day.

It just so happened that they stumbled upon Shinpachi as they exited the tent. "Oh, Patsuan." Gintoki called for him, after noticing him first, Kagura behind. He'll admit: it was a little fun playing along with Kagura's nickname game, the girl was creative as hell. Smart too. For a human. "What are you doing here?"

"Again, my name's not Patsuan." Shinpachi sighed. "And what are you doing here?"

"We just came to check out the fun. You?"

"Running errands. I'm acting as a delivery man for my Aneue. She and her customers wanted some fried chicken." He raised the takeaway box for them to see. 

"How nice! Can we have some?" Kagura asked. She hadn't had chicken in a long time. Being here for half a week, all she ate was desserts and drank hot milk. Chihuahua didn't seem to feed her proper rice and miso soup for dinner as she was just a pet, even though Yamazaki had suggested a different diet. She missed savoury foods and sour sukonbu.

"Sorry, but I didn't buy these so I can't give you any." He spoke with a sympathetic grin. The smell of fried chicken made Kagura grumble, she wasn't hungry, just grumpy she couldn't get any. "The customers gave me money to buy them. I bought these from down the street at KFC, I'm sure your owner would allow you to buy chicken whenever you want."

"Customers?" Gintoki forgot about the last part and eyed him up and down. "Your sister gets customers? For what?"

"Ah, I forgot to tell you. She works as a hostess at a club and entertains people from all kinds of places." Shinpachi explained, but noticed the blank stare of Gintoki and confused gaze of Kagura, so he elucidated. "Just a place where you talk to businessmen after work. It's quite an unknown place because the hostesses are usually human, and the dogs and cats that frequent them are good at keeping secrets. You can get into all kinds of illegal trouble without any issue, so long as you keep your lips shut."

At this moment, the cats and dogs were making their way home. The cold of the night embraced them, as the animals went home to the comfort of warmth. What was left in the streets were humans who would've been kicked out earlier, when the place was lively. Now that the festival was nearly ending, they were allowed to walk around and observe the used stands, finished games and thrown out food. 

If there were cats and dogs then Shinpachi wouldn't have the gall to talk about these kinds of things—the unfair treatment of humans, even though to him, it sounded so normal. The way he spoke with a smile, all the while knowing that it was quite illegal. But to him, so long as his sister had a job, he was happy.

"So, it's basically just a place where men have fetishes for humans?" Gintoki asked boldly, yet with a rather careless tone.

"Y—yeah."

Kagura blinked, her eyes widened. Of course, Anego had worked as a hostess in the other world because she enjoyed it. She loved her job. So it was always normal to Kagura and she never gave a second thought about it. That was when she was fourteen and naive. She was sixteen now, been through puberty, though only halfway and she still had more to go through, but she knew more of the gruesome aspects of life. In this world, Anego was clearly forced into it. 

She knew how often Anego got harassed by men, especially Gorilla, she couldn't imagine the shit that the Anego here had to endure. Not after the mistreatment towards Shinpachi that she witnessed the other day. "Shinpachi." She called him by his first name this time, a little too aggressive of a tone.

"Hm?"

"Can you take us to where Ane—your sister works?" 

"Ah, why?"

Her face softened, pupils enlarged, as she lied. "I wanna see the fun!" 

"It's not really a place where you should go."

"Why not?" She added. 

"Well, it's not for kids."

"I'm not a kid! I'm sixteen!"

"Yes, but…"

"And it's not like they'll hurt me, I'm Matsudaira's pet."

She grimaced after the word 'pet', anything to see Anego again, and to see if she was okay with her situation. She was willing to adopt her, and Shinpachi, in place of Sougo.

"Hmmm… Alright, fine. But remember to behave."

Gintoki sighed, guess he'll have to come along.

-

**20 minutes later:**

The bar was bright and welcoming despite what it's known form. Lights scintillated; voices cackled. Loud laughter emitted even from humans, it seemed like a place of free speech. Human or animal, here in the bar no one treated Shinpachi or her like an outcast or slave. Unexpectedly. It was a place for humans, but she had assumed the humans would be mistreated as well. It reminded her of Kabukicho and Otose's bar, maybe the Cabaret bar too.

The ones who ordered fried chicken were kind enough to thank Shinpachi. Now she knew why Shinpachi was so relaxed about it. Kagura let out a relieved sigh, she worried for nothing. She remembered what Shinpachi said, it wasn't a place for kids. But maybe it should have, for it would have kept them safe and sound.

"Huh, it's not as scary as I thought." Gintoki confessed. As one who frequents bars, this place was a surprisingly seven out of ten for him. It wasn't as great as the ones he'd rank ten out of ten, but the humans seemed to know what they're doing. He then went on a ramble with himself. "I thought the punks here would be a lot more scarier, but they're really the ones I've heard who actually like humans. Maybe that's why humans never got into legal trouble, because the visitors care about their lives."

"Don't you like humans too?" Kagura asked, a bead of sweat would normally form at her forehead in these kinds of anticipating situations. But the open air infiltrated through the windows of the bar and kept her cool, balanced perfectly with the liveliness and warmth that happy smiles provided.

"That's—" Gintoki slowed down and gave it a second thought. "—debatable."

Kagura huffed. "Great. Another one with a secret backstory that caused them to hate a species." It seemed like everyone was keeping secrets.

"What was that?"

"I didn't say anything." She looked away.

"Kagura-chan? Gin-san? Come over here!" 

The two turned their heads, at the same time, towards the direction of Shinpachi's voice. He stood meekly at the table, his head returned to face the male customers who chatted him up. Amongst the human girls was Otae. And amongst the men was Gorilla, hugging and hogging Anego to himself. Laughing with lips wide open like a child, unaware their spit was out. 

Kagura grimaced. Gintoki and Kagura glanced at one another before following. "Gorilla." She nearly spat.

"E-eh?" Gorilla gaped, inaudible words tumbled out of his mouth like the huge rocks in speed run games. The glass of freshly poured alcohol in his hand swiveled, waves splashed against the border and spilled slightly over. He blurted. "Why are you here?!"

"Why are you here?"

"W-wait! Don't tell Sougo about this, please?!"

"Ha? Why shouldn't I?

Ginroki stepped forward. "Maybe you should do him a favour. What would happen if he told Souichiro on you?"

"Chihuahua wouldn't care if I came here."

"His father is Matsudaura Katakuriko. The boy has a reputation to maintain, it'll be damaged if everyone hears of this." At that, Gintoku pulled Kagura's hair out of her pigtails. 

"What are you doing?"

"Hiding the name on your collar." He whispered, hovering over her front body, covering her from the table in front of them. 

He placed the bunny shaped hair baubles in her hands, adjusted her hair, then, twisted the collar and slid the side with the name towards the back of her neck where it was covered by her hair. Kagura didn't like it when people touched her for no reason, much less Chihuahua, but Gintoku's actions seemed fatherly. He did it for her benefit, and Chihuahua's, and it reminded her of her old Gin-chan.

When Gintoki was done, he let go and made his way to the table. Kagura watched him sit down without permission and greeted the customers and human girls like he had known them for years, and had frequented this bar often. She shoved the baubles into the pocket of her puffer jacket. Then tugged on the front, or back, of her collar to ensure it was loose enough that she wouldn't choke again. And when she was ready, Otae offered her a seat. Kind as always, Kagura thought.

Anego, she almost called out as she squished past Gorilla and made a space for herself in between him and Otae.

"Oi, human! Don't you think you're being too bold?" Gorilla asked. "Just because this place is kind to humans doesn't mean you can disrespect me. Right, Otae-chan? You tell her!"

"Shut up or I'll tell Chihuahua."

Otae ignored him. "My, you're quite a cute human. May I ask what your name is?"

"Kagura."

"Kagura… even your name is cute. I'm Shimura Tae, but everyone calls me Otae."

"Can I call you Anego?"

'Eh?" The woman was taken aback. "S-sure."

"Ehh? Otae-chan, you're just gonna let her into your life like that? Have you forgotten that I was the one who paid for you to accompany me, and the food? Come on! The humans here are supposed to serve wild beasts like me." Gorilla complained as he attempted to push Kagura away, his other hand touching Otae on the shoulder. Kagura didn't allow him any closer and punched his arm, Kondo's arm slipped and his hand accidentally groped onto Otae's left breast.

Just as Kagura was about to stand up to Kondo, the veins on Otae's soft face tightened, and without a warning, she grabbed his arm in return and threw him across the room. She did it so easily in one swing, like she had done this before. Everyone, including Gintoki and Shinpachi, stared at her. At least Kagura knew that she no longer needed to worry about her and Shinpachi getting bullied anymore. 

She turned to Kagura. "Remember this, Kagura-chan. Whether you see yourself as human or woman, wealthy or strayed, you still have every right to protect yourself. You're not an object, so don't let anyone objectify and bully you." It seemed like she didn't like Gorilla as much as Kagura thought, though there must be some explanation or reason. Gorilla must have harassed her often, Kagura thought again, like in the human world.

"Anego..." She stared at Otae in awe, forgetting that a part of it was sort of her fault that Gorilla got thrown.

"Here, have some candy."

"Ah! Thank you—what the?!" Kagura jumped at the sight of a handful of candy with squashed faces. There were human, without any animal ears. "What the hell is that and why is it so scary-aru?"

"Ah, these are human candy. Some dog entrepreneur produced these ten years ago, they're sweet and have some health benefits too. I heard they make your skin clearer, ah, but your skin is already quite clear." She handed them to Kagura, the younger girl's hand slightly trembled but accepted them nonetheless. "You don't look Japanese, where did you come from?"

"I'm actually from another world."

"Another... world?"

"Mhm!" Kagura explained as she chewed on the human heads. They didn't taste bad. It tasted like peach but the red syrup seeping out as she bit into them slightly grossed her out, still, she liked strawberry too. It felt nice talking to Anego again, almost like she was back in the human world. "There, humans and animals exist with equality."

"Eh? Really?" Anego asked with interest.

"Geez. I can't believe you guys actually believe in this girl." Gintoki interjected, on his fifth glass of beer.

"I really did come from the human world!"

"Yes, yes, and I'm Kamisama."

"Tch."

"You're funny, Kagura." Otae giggled. "Humans have been trying to gain equality from animals for years. Some animals, like our customers, wish for our equality too. There's even a group known as the Joi Rebels who are trying to overthrow the government and our Shogun."

"Joi Rebels?" Kagura repeated, Gintoki groaned at this for some reason.

"They're just some pathetic cats who think they have power over dogs."

"You're a cat too!" Kagura turned back to Otae. "Where can I find them?"

Gintoki eyed her suspiciously. "Why do you want to find them?"

"N-no reason." She did miss Zura and Eli.

"It's best if a little girl like you stay away from bad kitties like them."

-

**An hour later:**

"You're back." He greeted her monotonously as he stood, leaning against one of the opened double doors.

Crap. He looked so pissed. All of a sudden, he was not a dumb Chihuahua but a werewolf ready to swallow her whole. Had he ever looked this scary? She supposed she always he had been scary and sadistic with his evil grin and tortorous torture methods forced onto his victims. Her included. She just never noticed because she was always too busy focusing on defeating him and worrying about whether she looked scary or not, and she better be. 

Kagura gulped, paralyzed to the spot, wondering what she did wrong. There was no running away. This was her home. She almost flinched as he leaned down and into her neck, sniffing her. She pushed him off. "Move away! You smell weird."

"Weird? I thought humans are supposed to like the smell of their owners." He flicked at her forehead. "From now on, your curfew is 7pm. Otherwise, you'll really end up a stray human."

So that was it?

He was angry because she came home late?

Kagura watched his expression soften as he walked away, suddenly he didn't seem so scary anymore. She followed him inside, kicking off her sneakers and slid into her fluffy rabbit slippers. She gave into his rambling as he sat down on the couch, Kagura followed along and sat on the other end of the couch. Sougo grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. 

Halfway through watching, Kagura remembered the last candy left in her pocket. She had eaten most of it on her way home and saved one for when she got home. They were delicious for their weird head shapes and human faces without cat or dog ears. 

"What's this?" Sougo noticed and snatched it off her.

"Wait! Give it back!"

"Why?" He raised his hand higher and watched her struggle to get it back, her torso leaned over his lap.

"B-because that's my last one!" Kagura puffed her cheeks. He eyed her suspiciously, unconvinced, she needed a better reason. "Because dogs aren't allowed to eat candy! I gave my Sadaharu candy once and then his balls started to itch. Gin-chan took him to the hospital and the doctor said that dogs can't eat candy, it can damage their livers and they will die."

"What part of ball itching does it have to do with liver failure?"

-

**An hour later:**

"Tch. What is it?" A lazy groan emitted from the abyss of his gut. The weight of his shoulder and chest weighed him down, but he got up nonetheless. Sougo saw her at the door, she had turned on the light without his permission. The light should have blinded his eyes, but Kagura's eyes have cleared any fog in his view and allowed him to stare into her so clearly.

"I can't sleep."

He didn't know what to say. He should have just told her to go back to her room. He didn't like sleeping with other people, for his bed was for him only. It was his secret garden. "Come in bed then."

With a click, the lights turned off. She crawled in beneath the blankets and soon he realised that he needed to wrap his arms around her. 

"Idiot. It's supoosed to be the other way round."

"Huh?"

"It's usually the owner who can't sleep so the human comes to comfort it, not the other way round. Ah, well, not that I mind. You smell very nice, strangely, even though you stink of dirt. Oi, did you shower before bed? I heard humans have a bad habit of skipping showers because they can't be bothered. Tch, and you guys don't groom yourselves." Then, in a softer tone. "But your hair is very fluffy and your skin is really soft."

Kagura didn't complain. Instead, she remained quiet. "Like a rabbit?" She asked in a hopeful voice.

"Like the ones you see on TV?" He inquired. "I've never met one personally."

"TV?"

"Yeah." He thought about it for a second. "What are rabbits supoosed to be like in your world?"

"Well, there's different kinds. But I guess the most well known rabbits are found on Earth, the tiny ones where they're covered in fur."

"Entirely?"

"Mhm!"

"... that's disgusting."

"It's cute!" She hit his chest playfully. "And they're tiny and they nibble on carrots, I used to have one called Sadaharu. I remember cuddling with him when I couldn't sleep because I had nightmares, and he helped me get through the night."

Sougo paused and looked at her eyes. It was under the chandelier light that her eyes shone like diamonds, but here in the dark, it lit up the night like the day sky. Maybe this was a sign that there was still something to look forward to.

"He died though."

Sougo sat up. "You're not gonna kill me, are you?!"

"Why would I kill you?!" Kagura also sat up.

"Y-you must be one of those wild humans that roam around the streets, yelling and causing trouble. That's right. That explains why you're so strong for a human!"

"I told you, I'm not a human! I'm a yato!"

"What the hell is a yato anyways?!

"They're like humans... and rabbits. A mix of humans and rabbits, kinda like how you're a mix of humans and dogs."

"I'm not a mix of humans, humans are just the inferior creatures without the dog ears, tail and senses. That's why they're mostly weak, because they don't know what instincts are."

"Yes, they do! Gin-chan has crazy strong instincts. So does Anego."

"Who the hell's Anego?" They shared a silence before Sougo sighed, his hand placed on her shoulder and he lowered both their bodies back onto the mattress. He patted her once more. "Go to bed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Phew... It's a shorter chapter. I also feel like I should apologise for lack of description. I focused so much on dialogue that I didn't put any thought into descriptions. 
> 
> It's nothing like Beasts in Heat, but then again, it isn't supposed to be Beasts in Heat 2.0. Doggy Sougo was a coincidence.


	6. captured

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This is taking a lot longer than I expected. If anyone came here solely for OkiKagu, I hope I don't disappoint you cause there's more to it. 
> 
> Also, I'm thinking of coming out with a new OkiKagu smut, 10k words, some time next month. I have half of it written but I need to complete it, so while I update it consecutively, I can check for grammar mistakes. And if you want it, you have to promise me to stay safe and keep yourselves healthy, so you don't get covid and die. Otherwise, you won't be able to read my smut anymore T^T.

**1 day later:**

In the morning when she awoke, she found the bed empty as Chihuahua must've left for school. But the bed was full of his scent, and as a human, and yato, she found herself indulging in the scent. She slept just a little longer so she could appreciate it longer. Kagura never liked Sadist's smell. It reeked of sadism and a weird mix of chuuberts, alcohol, old men deodorant and teenage boys. It was strange because Chihuahua had the same scent as Sadist, and yet, she welcomed the smell.

So why was she opening up to Sadist's scent?

Perhaps it was because she was warming up to him. 

Perhaps it was because she was seeing him in a different light, and no longer did she hate him so much; perhaps she had convinced herself that Sadist smelled bad so that it wouldn't distract her during their fights (he smelled that good). 

So many possibilities and still she refused to settle for any of them. Like she would ever admit he smelled nice.

-

**2 days later:**

This time she woke up earlier, in her own bed. And since she had nothing to do, she went to see him.

"Why can't I see him?"

"He's kinda busy right now."

"Busy with what? School work? Busy or not, I don't really care-aru. I'm his pet, aren't I? He signed up for this." She attempted to push past Hijikata and Yamazaki, who immediately shifted towards the centre of the door and blocked her path.

"Miss Kagura—" Yamazaki was cut off.

Kagura grabbed at their shoulders and dug her fingers so deep, she could feel their bones. And with a small push, the two were thrown to each side of the door. She flung the door open. Kagura stopped in her tracks. 

Here was Chihuahua clothed in only a towel that covered his crotch area. His upper body revealed a defined chest with lines deeper than Granny Otose's wrinkles. He had been showering. No wonder why they didn't let her in.

He looked at her blankly. "Didn't I say no guests allowed? Tch, maybe I should fire Hijikata and Yamazaki. Useless bunch. What do you want?"

Kagura didn't say anything, she simply turned around and began to make her way back.

"Where are you going?"

"N-nowhere."

"Come here." She slowly turned around, her eyes focused on his forehead. She hoped he didn't notice her awkward gaze in an attempt to avoid the view of his chest. Not that he would care, it's normal for pets to see owners naked. At least for cats. But Kagura wasn't a pet and the sight of him naked made her skin crawl. "You must've come here for something."

She mumbled in response. "N-not particularly. I just came to see how you were doing."

"Oh?" He smirked. "Did you miss me?"

"Not at all!"

-

**1 week later:**

She visited the garden by herself today. Chihuahua was too busy attending to his classes to accompany her. Even after a week or so of living in this world, her eyes still sparkled when she saw the garden. It's a little strange, considering how she usually gets bored of pretty things easily.

In the distance, she saw Gorilla. He wasn't doing anything in particular, just strolling around. There was something she wanted to talk to him about, and many, many questions—how he found the human hostess bar, how he became attached to Anego, why he kept this a secret and how he managed to keep it for so long, and why did he kept visiting Anego knowing what he was doing could result in betraying Sougo and the Matsudairas?

"Oi, Gorilla. Answer me."

"AGH!" The gorilla jumped. When he saw Kagura, he sighed out of relief. "Oh, it's just you. What's up?"

"If you love Anego so much, why don't you take her in as a pet?"

"That's a very sudden question, Kagura."

"Answer me, coward."

"Don't you know not to pry into people's life, especially those you don't know well? You and I only know each other for two weeks." He then added. "You're a pet too, might I add that you're sixteen? You have better things to do than worry about adult stuff."

She ignored him. "You can provide support for both her and Shinpachi, and you won't have to seek Shinpachi's approval." And if they were Gorilla's pets, she could see them everyday. Or almost. Regardless, she would be one step closer to her new home.

"I can't do that."

"Why?"

"I don't just want her as a pet. I'm in love with her, animal and human aren't allowed to be in romantic relationships." Kagura held in her breath, her eyes widened. So, even though the rule forbidding animals to fall in love with humans was established, there were still some, maybe even many, who love anyways. Well, Mami did say love was unstoppable. Gorilla scratched his head nervously, and he continued in a soft mumble. "And besides, she doesn't really like me."

She remembered that he would harass her often. All of a sudden, she changed her mind about wanting Anego to be his pet, or anyone's pet for that matter. "I can see why."

-

**2 weeks later:**

"Bye!"

"Goodbye, Kagura-chan!" Kondo waved her off at the main entrance. "Come back safe!"

Yamazaki and Hijikata watched him close the door, eyeing him suspiciously, just when did he and Sougo's human get so close?

-

**In the afternoon:**

And Kagura was on her way to see Yorozuya and Anego, who occasionally visited the Yorozuya building before work which starts at 5pm. Two weeks into the new world and she had managed to settle in, thanks to her stubborn desire to find her Earth family. She didn't mind staying here anymore, so long she had her friends. Though, she couldn't help but wonder what her old world was doing—Gin-chan, Sadaharu, Shinpachi and Anego from there. Would they worry about her? Had they sent out a search party?

Had they cried for her yet? Ah, but knowing Gin-chan, he probably wouldn't cry. Shinpachi, Anego and Sadaharu would. Maybe Papi and Baka Aniki would come to Earth from space and pay their respects to a gravestone without a body. Maybe they thought she was in Heaven with Mami, maybe, she laughed silently to herself. She wouldn't mind that either. She wondered, would Sadist cry for her? 

To avoid confusion, she differentiated the two by Sadist and Chihuahua. Previously they were both Sadist's nicknames, but since the one here was an actual chihuahua, she gave one away. She hoped he didn't mind, then again, chances are he'd be more than happy. He didn't like being called Chihuahua. Neither does this Sadist, but she would never call him Sougo. It sounded weird. It wasn't that it didn't suit him, it was that it didn't suit her.

Yet Chihuahua never had difficulties calling her Kagura. Technically, it was the first time they called each other by their given names. Needless to say, she liked Chihuahua more.

Thinking about it, she really should find some way to get back home. It didn't help that she was getting used to the collar, it now defined her more than her hair ornaments. But she has nothing to start with, no trace of information and no lead. Where could she begin if she were to go back home? She should try jumping off the bridge again before Chihuahua comes to get her with his bodyguards and yell at her for committing suicide again, even though she wasn't trying to and she had told him many times? 

The only comfort she could find was in the cold embrace of the wind as she walked through the streets of Tokyo. The air smelled different and it didn't provide the same, familiar scent that used to soothe her heart when she felt conflicted. Not everyone greeted her as she walked. Not everyone knew that she was Kagura-chan of Yorozuya. She missed walking around in Edo.

It was near the traffic lights where she stopped and turned her head to the side, where a cardboard box stood, lonely, a sign saying "please take me home" on the box, a bit too big for an abandoned pet. And in the cardboard box was none other than Zura. His eyes closed as he sat like an actual cat, his ears folded downwards. A bubble blowing through his nose. She gritted her teeth, wishing it was Sadaharu. Then again, she didn't mind Zura either.

She wondered what he was doing here. "Oi, Zura!"

He woke up. "Water… I need water…"

Maybe he was a stray cat too, like Gin-chan.

Kagura made a quick trip to the vending machine, scanned her collar and came back with a bottle of Pokari. She extended her hand. "Here!"

"P-Pokari?!"

"Don't like the brand?"

"No!"

Kagura jumped.

"I love it!" He took the bottle off of her hand, twisted the cap and downed it in one go.

"Ahh—good to know, I guess." She shook her head. "Anyways, what are you doing here, Zura?"

He wiped his lips and chin, ignoring the water that dripped onto his shirt, and looked up. He really looked like a stray. "How did you know my name?"

Crap. "Gin-chan told me."

"Gintoki… he still talks about me?"

"Yep!"

"I didn't expect that from him."

"Eh? Why not? Aren't you two friends?"

"Does it sound like that?"

She didn't answer, instead, she gave him a contemplating gaze. After a while, when she realised that he wasn't going to continue, she spoke again. "Why are you in a cardboard box?"

-

**A while later:** ****

"Phew… so you're not a stray like Gin-chan?"

"No. I'm a part of the Jo—the Jojo family. We're quite a big group so even if I want to be strayed, I can't escape my brothers."

"What kind of reference to Jojo is that? I don't even get it." Kagura eyed him suspiciously. In the modern day of Tokyo, he didn't wear a kimono. Instead, he opted for an oversized green hoodie and sweats. So far, it seemed like he didn't want her to know that he was a part of the Joi Rebels.

He had explained to her. The reason why he was in a cardboard box was because he wanted to know what it was like to be homeless. He was conducting research on whether privileged animals would have a heart kind enough to help out a stray. To which Kagura told him that it was stupid, since everyone knew what animals are like—they only do things that benefit their own survival. What else did you expect from a world of animals?

Zura shook his head. Apparently he wasn't looking for people who mistreated him or ignored him, but rather the rarer side of the people who choose to help. Kagura was the first one. Despite the fact that she was human, the species that was the most mistreated of the three big species in Japan.

"Ah, well… I'm very privileged too." Kagura explained, unsure where to start. She couldn't just casually tell a stranger that she belonged to Okita Sougo, a very well known and wealthy man. "My owners have a lot of money and I naturally pity stray humans. I only became friends with Gin-chan because I found out he was a stray cat, human or not, he was in the same position as me."

"Your owner must be very kind."

She couldn't follow up with a statement regarding that. She wouldn't describe Chihuahua as kind. 

-

**Half an hour later:**

"Because you found Katsura on the streets, you decided to ask me to come out so we can discuss him?" His words were stretched lazily. It seemed like Gintoki had rushed out for food, so excited that he didn't even bother to clean up the mess in his hair, only to feel disappointment when he saw Katsura in the seat opposite Kagura. "I told you, you shouldn't interfere with people like him."

"Do you want the strawberry parfait or not?" Kagura asked him, even she felt annoyed, what was it with her treating people with food?

"Next time." He groaned as he got up. He gave Kagura one last look before he left. "Stop hanging out with random strangers, oujo-chan."

Kagura turned back to Zura after Gintoki left. He had no right to tell her what to do, even though he was her Earth father.  
  


Gintoki opened the door, and without realising that there was another person entering, he accidentally bumped into them. He groaned in pain, today was really unlucky for him. Yet Ketsuno Ana didn't warn him at all, so what's with all this?

He looked up with a pissed expression, ready to yell until he saw who it was. "H-Hiji...?" He didn't finish.

"Tch." There was a short silence as he thought about what to say. "It's you bastard again, huh?"

"Yeah, it is. Kagura and I were just discussing how to kill you, Gorilla and Souichiro-kun. What are you doing here?"

"I came for a Hijikata special mayo parfait." 

Gintoki ignored his tease and pushed him away, never looking back.  
  


After walking past a few streets, he finally came to his senses. He stopped. What the hell had he done?! He wanted to confess his love, not insult him! Then again, he couldn't help but insult that mayo addict, it's been so long since he insulted him.

Forget it.

He really fucked up.

All of a sudden, his phone rang. How unusual, he barely gets any calls. Perhaps it was a customer, that'll lighten up his day. He checked his contacts, strangely, it was from an old number. 

Hijikata.

Again?!

"What?" He snapped.

"I didn't wanna call you either, sugar addict."

"Then don't call me—"

A rough, breathless voice cut him off. "Kagura has been kidnapped."

"What?"

"I figured that you two were friends, so I called you for help. I've already called Sougo for backup. Not sure if you care though."

"What—how?"

"She was just on her own when a group of cats smashed through the window of her side and took her away. They didn't say anything or explained why they needed her."

That was all he needed to hear before he ran back to the other direction, forgetting to turn off his phone.

It seems that Hijikata had picked up on Gintoki's reaction. "Oi! Gintoki! Are you listening to me? What are you doing? Answer me!"

-

**A few hours later:**

"These—" Zura shook a cardboard box of toys, ranging from toy trucks to teddy bear plushies, even a white duck resembling Elizabeth sticking out from the bottom, and emptied it on the ground in front of her. There was a squeak from one of the toys, a worn out chihuahua plushie with stitches across its face, a lost button eye, and cotton spilling out. And in an asserting tone, Zura continued. "—Pick whichever one you want, you can keep it even."

"As if! I don't want chewed cat toys!"

"These aren't chewed! They're just old!" Zura exclaimed, losing his calm, controlled composure to his old straight man routine. "And they're not cat toys either, they're for humans! And you, a mere human, do you really think you have a choice in this situation? Take one of the damn toys and shut up!"

"Fine." Kagura mumbled grumpily. She wanted Eli-chan, but shuffling through the toys would take longer. His gaze on her increasingly unsettled her so she quickly settled on the chihuahua. She'll play along with their kidnapping game, and when she was done, she'll beat them all up to show how much humans could be worth.

She blinked her eyes clear at the toy. It looked like Sougo, minus the injuries. Though she would like to beat him to a pulp like this. Kagura held it in a way that the open cut was facing upwards so the cotton wouldn't fall out any further. She wasn't intending on keeping it, but if she was, she could get Anego to stitch it up for her.

"I didn't think Matsudaira adopted humans, I thought he had a distaste for them. But this isn't so bad, it makes you worth a lot more." Zura bent down on his knees, speaking casually. He must have done this often. "I could ransom you."

Crap. This was what maybe-not-so-dumb Chihuahua had been warning her all this time. Stay calm, stay calm. If he comes any closer then spit on him. If he's serious about ransoming you then break the ropes and beat him up. Countless ideas floated within her head, she grinded her teeth in anticipation, her blue eyes glinted like a warning flashlight. She began to find it difficult to breathe, not that he was cutting off her air supply, but rather the air suddenly grew thick.

Katsura came closer, Kagura slowly inhaled a breath, Katsura bent down and leaned in. He mused for a split second, he could sell her eyes as diamonds, before he shook himself back to reality. "How close are you with Gintoki?"

"Why are you asking me this?!" She yelled through her gritted teeth. "I thought you kidnapped me because you wanted to ransom me, even though I bought you Pokari?!"

Zura leaned backwards, giving her space as well as avoiding the spit coming out of her mouth. "Originally, I only kidnapped you because you were friends with Gintoki. The two of you seem really close, like you've known each other for longer than he and I. So I kidnapped you to bait him in and force him to join the Joi Rebels. But I was shocked when I saw your collar, who knew you were also the pet of Matsudaira's?"

One of his underlings interjected. "It's perfect! Not only do we get to have Sakata Gintoki on our side but also receive some government funds." Unfortunately it wasn't Elizabeth, it seemed like this world didn't have any aliens or amantos. Perhaps that was why Kagura didn't have a counterpart, nor did Sadaharu.

"But Gin-chan seems to really hate you guys-aru."

"He's just shy."

"He told me to stay away from bad kitties like you."

"We're not bad, we're very cute." Then, he feigned an innocent expression and meowed. His tail wagged. "Can this cute kitty get your help to persuade Gintoki to join our bunch? We would like to be cute together."

There was a long hesitation before Kagura gave in. It was a bit cringey, but she had to admit, Zura can be good looking. She could've just said no, rid herself free from the ropes and beat him up. But for the sake of her relationship with human Zura, she spared him. Not to mention that she remembered what Gin-chan had said to her before, Chihuahua had a reputation to maintain. She couldn't ruin it. "Fine, but on a few conditions."

"Go ahead."

"One, any information that I request from you shall be free and I do not owe you anything, nor will I be indebted to you; two: you must release me from the ropes before I break them myself, just to save the hassle from shocking you guys with my incredible strength." Kagura stopped, taking a breath and to create anticipation. "And three…"

"Three…" Zura swallowed.

"You have to call me Leader."

-

**Meanwhile:**

In his office, the lights were turned off except for the lamp on his desk. Sougo stared at the clock from his desk, an openbook in his hand, wondering where Kagura was. A vein popped out of his forehead.

"Stupid brat,  
  


she totally forgot about curfew."

-

**Earlier on:**

First, the brat clings onto him like they've been friends since forever. Second, she drags him to human bars. And third, she's gotten herself kidnapped and now he has to save her because, in a way, he is indebted to her after spending all her money. He couldn't imagine what Souichiro-kun and the whole of Matsudaira's residence would do to him after they found out that he sat and did nothing, while she's abducted, even after all the money they've spent on him.

And it was such a coincidence that the Joi Rebels showed up whenever Kagura needed them, though it wasn't like they would do her any favours. It would be the other way round. He knew that the Joi Rebels had the goal of overthrowing the government, but if they needed the government's attention, they could've kidnapped Souichiro-kun instead. Sure, it was to get Souichiro worried. But if it were him instead, maybe then, Gintoki wouldn't have to go through the trouble of saving her.

"Dammit, Katsura." Gintoki gritted through his teeth, clacking and clicking at it without a care, like he was kicking into sand out of frustration. It's been at least four months since they've last bothered him. "What the hell do you want?"

He had been in their secret lair before, once. Discovering it was a coincidence, but he still remembered where it was. 

It was beyond the park and into the army of oak trees where it situated a considerably well-kept, and fancy, old lair of a house. Katsura bragged that he and his men rebuilt and decorated the place. A real samurai always does the job himself, he said, but Gintoki just thought he was babbling. Since the owners had passed away and no one had bothered with it since it was in the forest, and the bakufu dogs cared enough about the environment to never consider cutting down the trees, the Rebels never worried about infiltrators.

Hijikata had already called Souichiro for backup. Gintoki will just have to do what he could in the meantime. But to his surprise, when he reached the entrance of the building, he saw Katsura and Kagura walking side by side. They were chatting about something, he couldn't hear for he was quite a few metres away, but they seemed really engaged. What the hell?

"Oi, Katsura!" Gintoki called.

Katsura immediately retorted. "Katsura janai. Zura da."

"Wait, wait. Something's wrong-aru." Kagura said calmly, her face blank and confused. "Isn't it the other way round?"

"What do you mean? This guy hates the name Katsura and constantly calls himself Zura because of his damn, long hair. He thinks it's cool and punk for a rebel." Gintoki ignored his last statement, as he walked forward, he attempted an intimidating yet cool composure. "What the hell did you do to Kagura?"

Kagura answered instead. "Wait! Gin-chan! He didn't really do anything to me."

"Exactly what Leader said."

"Huh? What's this? Why is Katsura being so compliant? Why did he just call you Leader? Why are you two being so friendly with each other? This is weird. Gin-chan doesn't like it." Gintoki turned to Kagura. "Didn't I tell you to stay away from bad kitties like him?"

"Yeah, but it's fine now-aru. We reached an agreement."

"You got kidnapped by the Joi Rebels and you somehow managed to convince them to let you go and now they call you leader?"

"Yep!"

"LIES! Tell me, you Bitch!" Gintoki pulled on Kagura's shoulders and shook her back and forward. "The hell did you do with Katsura?"

"Gintoki, when will you ever understand..?" Katsura spoke. "I'm not the Katsura you know anymore. It's Zura of the Joi Rebels!"

"Like hell I care!"

"Gintoki! For the millionth time, if you join the Joi Rebels then you won't be a stray cat anymore!"

"Like hell I wanna!" Gintoki scoffed, his ears twitching and getting increasingly hotter as he fumed his anger expressively. He stomped his foot. "And your persuasive method is to kidnap my acquaintances?!"

"Not just kidnap her to bait you, Gintoki. But also brainwash you to believe in the right way of a Joi Rebel!"

"Right way, my ass!"

Katsura took a deep breath. "Regardless of what you think, Leader has promised me to make you join us."

"You did?!"

"Don't you wanna? Humans have been treated unfairly and I think they deserve some equality."

Gintoki sighed, ruffling his hair with his fingers. "You have no clue what you're getting yourself into. Humans should stay humans. Stubborn. Dumb. Innocent too. It's the best way to live."

"You're the one who has no clue what he's talking about. The Gin-chan in my world freed women from prostitution! He would've freed the humans from the psychological and physical abuse from the animals."

"I told you, I'm not your Gin-chan." He grabbed her by the wrist, ignoring her other hand that was clutching onto a half beaten plushie. "And I'm taking you home."

"I guess this is where we part." Katsura said.

"Mn. See you, Katsura."

Kagura struggled within Gintoki's hold. "Ow—stop!"

"Don't forget about the one million yen!" He yelled as he watched her and Gintoki walk away.

"I won't!" She didn't turn her head back.

-

**Half an hour later:**

"Chihuahua?"

"You missed the curfew."

She ignored what he said. "How did you know where I was?"

"Hijikara called me." 

  
  


"Well, I gotta go now." Said Gintoki.

"Already?" A smirk tugged at his lips.

"I don't have all the time and money in the world, Souichiro-kun."

"It's Sougo. Okita Sougo." He clarified. "And thanks for saving Kagura."

"Tch. Watch your pet better next time. See you guys around." Gintoki turned away and walked off. Then he added for measure. "Not."

  
  


"Why do you cling to him so much? You do know that he had history with the Joi Rebels, right? You could've died and you wouldn't know that."

"He's my friend. I trust him."

"And how well do you know him?" Sougo inquired, stepping forward. He observed how she stepped back slowly, in fear, like a prey. "And I'm mean really, without mentioning your other Gin-chan. There was a chance that he wouldn't have called me. He's used you for the money, he could even ransom you. Did you think of the possibilities?"

"N-no…" Kagura avoided his gaze. He was getting angry again. Then with a cheery smile to lighten up the situation. "But he didn't, right? I believe in him—"

He pulled her by the collar. Kagura muffled, slightly choking. "That's pure stupidity! You got lucky, don't try this ever again. Keep that in mind, got it?"

She bit her lip. She should have listened and obeyed him, she should have said yes. Instead, her free hand made its way over his wrist and pulled it off. "Mami said it was wrong to assume people badly without any proof. Gin-chan saved me, so technically I owe him my life. I didn't do anything wrong!" Her eyebrows furrowed, her gaze remained at his.

It's always about other men, Sougo realised. His eyes trailed down from her fingertips to her other arm, and down to the fingertips on her left hand. Her skin illuminated the night in place of the moon. He noticed the plushie in her hand. "What's that?"

"Ah, Zura said I could keep it."

Again, another man. Sougo snatched it off her hand to observe it. Kagura resisted and tried to take it back but ultimately failed. He muttered something about her choosing it because it looked like him, then threw it onto the floor a few meters away from them. A soft plop like a human falling onto a pillow could be heard, echoing into the night. "You don't need it. I'll get you a new one."

Kagura would've gone to pick it up if it weren't for Chihuahua holding onto her wrist, much gentler than Gin-chan had, and led her the opposite direction. She didn't want to fuss over a toy she had just got to know, and she didn't need it anyway considering there was a chihuahua right in front of her. Not that he'd ever play with her.

They walked under the night in silence. The emptiness of the sky added to the mundane air shared between them. Only their breathing spoke. There weren't the scatters of stars or splatters of galaxies she had seen in airships, which made her want to go back to where she came from. There were no stars to wish upon and ask Kamisama to rid of the awkward silence. There was no moon to look up to for comfort, after all that had happened to her.

Sougo couldn't help but think about what Kagura had said previously. I didn't do anything wrong, he chuckled to himself, humans will always be stubborn.

Kagura only felt confusion when she heard him. As they walked, she realised that she should have thanked Chihuahua for coming to save her. 

Though he didn't need to, the thought remained. But it had been about twenty minutes since and it'd be awkward if she did it now. She wondered, shouldn't Hijikata and Yamazaki pick them up with the car? Why didn't he come with backup? Did he come to save her alone? That's a bit stupid, she thought. Or maybe he rushed to save her so that he didn't have the time to tell anyone. That's even dumber, Gin-chan said that you should always stay calm under any circumstances.

Ah, what to do?

She really wanted to thank him.

She stopped when the sounds of cheering and loud cackles reached her ears. Without realising, she spoke aloud. "That's the same festival from last time. Has it not ended yet?"

"That's what you spent 10,000 yen on? The all round summer festival?" He finally turned around. "Did you spend all the money on food?"

"How'd you know how much I spent?!"

"Your collar sends me notifications."

"Oh…" Suddenly, she tugged the fabric of his shirt near the waist down. "Forget it! Let's go again!"

"No way. Didn't you go already?"

"Yeah, but that was with Gin-chan! I haven't went with you yet."

He looked at her strangely. There was a distaste in his mouth knowing she was willing to go to the festival with that perm head. He gave in, but only because he wanted her to spend her time with him instead. "Fine."

-

"Wow! It's as lively as last time."

Eventually Yamazaki and Hijikata arrived as their bodyguards. As it turned out, Hijikata tried to follow them but only ended up running around the city. Every so often, he was led to the park like a pet. It should've been easy considering he knew her scent, but the park was full of people from animals to humans. All with different scents that washed out the expensive, custom perfume Sougo sprayed on his human. Soon Hijikata lost track.

"Hijikata-san, should I call for car service?"

"No need."

"Hm, why not?"

"At least not yet." He puffed out a smoke that danced around with other smokes emitted from the cooking of hot foods. His expression was rather serious for the festival, where everyone else was smiling. But seeing Gintoki, and being forced to speak to him over the phone, infuriated him. He needed the festival more than Sougo, as the loud cheers of the night distracted him. "Let him stay a little longer, I've never seen him look so happy before."

"Hey, can I try that?" Kagura asked the man at the stall. She had been through several games and was fairly good at everything. Her next stop was a shooting range with balloons.

"Sure, young lady." The man was considerably kind to her, knowing she was a human. But at second glance, it was a human with sunglasses and roughly trimmed brown hair. "You have ten chances to hit five balloons, once you hit all five, you can get any one of the plushies."

"What are you doing?" Sougo came up to her.

"I want that plushie!" She pointed at a dog plushie. It wasn't a chihuahua but one with white fur and huge, grey eyebrows. An appearance similar to inugamis. "It looks just like Sadaharu!"

"I thought you said Sadaharu was a rabbit." He recalled. "And It's kinda ugly."

"No it's not! Sadaharu's very cute!" Kagura retorted. "And I had many pets called Sadaharu."

"Why don't you get the rabbit?"

"It doesn't look like the current Sadaharu."

"Wanna make it a competition?" He smirked.

She mirrored it back.

After they won all the toys and the man's sunglasses, clothing and nipple, Kagura settled on the inugami only. "It's kinda small, do you not want a bigger one?"

"Nope!"

"Guess you don't need me to buy you a new one."

"I don't need it all, so I'll return them." She glanced over at the stand, where the naked owner was sulking as he ran out of business. She saw an old man walking by and ran off to show off her new plushie. "Look at my Sadaharu!"

"Get away, you filthy human!"

Sougo watched her before being interrupted by Yamazaki. It was 11pm. 

"It's time to go home." Sougo grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her forward, but the crazy strength of hers resisted so he opted to pull her collar. When that didn't work, he grabbed her by the midriff and raised her over his shoulder. She kicked at his legs. He looked over to her. "Stop—agh—stop resisting!"

Her words sounded slurred and deformed. "I forgot to collect Madao's nipples! Ahahah!" He had no idea what she meant nor what a Madao was.

"Sorry, Captain. I think she had a few drinks."

"You allowed her?"

Yamazaki laughed nervously. "She threatened to beat me if I didn't."

He sighed and said once more. "It's time to go home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So Zura's well known phrase is reversed here, I thought it'd be funny. Also, I'm worried I might've written Gintoki OOC. 
> 
> Following the manhwa, I wasn't sure if a kidnapping chapter was necessary. But then I thought, this could lead on to chapter 7 so I added it in. Originally the kidnapper should've been Gintoki, since that's the character he replaces. But now that Gintoki is a nice stray, he wouldn't do that. Also, the shooting range was originally in the manhwa. And I thought it was such a coincidence so I slightly changed it and put it in this fic.


End file.
